“I lost my ectopic pregnancy baby. Unfortunately I found no information online about ectopic pregnancy in Malta, and this scared me…”
When I saw the positive on the pregnancy test, I was excited, took two more to be sure and they were both positive. Dressed my son up in a promoted to big brother baby grow and woke up my partner. We then told our closest friends and family which added up to quite a few people, thinking we’ve had one completely healthy pregnancy, so no need to worry with the 12-week rule.
1 week later I had light brown spotting and discharge which lasted a few days and increased with each day. Eventually I called the hospital to get advice on what to do and they advised to come in through emergency to get checked and put my mind at rest so I did. They checked me and took blood tests, but being only 4-5 weeks pregnant nothing was visible even on an internal ultrasound. I was then called back in multiple times for blood tests and was told my HCG levels were rising and falling, so this could not be a viable pregnancy. They advised it was either a miscarriage that was going to happen or an ectopic pregnancy and told me if I feel any abdominal or shoulder pain to come back in and other than that to wait for what would have been my booking appointment.
I got home and did my research on ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages so I would not what to expect and look out for, obviously all the information you can find online is overwhelming and scary, to read in every article or webpage that a ectopic pregnancy could be life threatening and may require medical treatment through an injection or even surgery.
I know Malta is a very religious country and abortions are a taboo subject, even medical abortions to save the mother. I could not find any information online as to what takes place in Malta when you have an ectopic pregnancy, only in other countries and this terrified me. Would I actually be treated or would they just hope for the best?
Thank God at this point I had ignored the 12-week rule as support was what I needed, I suffered post-natal depression after my first son which I was finally able to think had gotten better and I did not want to feel that way again.
I went in once more with abdominal pain and they could not see anything, but booked me in for an ultrasound to see if anything could be seen, which there was still nothing viewable in my uterus or fallopian tubes.
After this I had a few days to wait until I had my booking appointment, which I went to, they did an ultrasound and found a mass in my left fallopian tube. I was admitted the same day, and kept in for observation, they did many blood tests and confirmed the mass was an ectopic pregnancy and it was not going to sort itself out.
I was scared and alone in a hospital room with no idea what was going to happen.
The doctors then came in and explained there are two options, an injection of methotrexate which is a drug that stops cell growth allowing it to be absorbed into the body or surgery. We went through risks and side effects of both, and although methotrexate has its fair share of side effects and things you need to avoid, such as vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea, and having to avoid alcohol, and the sun (in summer in Malta) I chose the injection on the doctor’s advice being that I had previously had a c section just 8 months prior the complications of surgery could be bad.
They had to get board approval for the injection which took about a day and a half from me signing the paperwork to agree to it. However, during this time, the doctors and nurses came in and updated me saying they had not received a call yet with the approval and checking how I was. Once the approval came through the injection was done, and 2 hours later I was checked to insure no allergies and sent home on a Thursday with instructions to come back in on Monday and the following Thursday for blood tests to ensure my HCG started dropping the correct amount to show the injection had worked.
They also made sure I was aware that with any pain I was to come back in immediately as if the ectopic pregnancy ruptures my fallopian tube this could be life threatening.
Monday I went in and got another blood test done and went into work as normal, throughout the day I felt some abdominal pain but was also relatively gassy and the pain went away with paracetamol so I put it down to gas and went on with my day, Tuesday I woke up with the same pain and again it went away with paracetamol, which the doctors had advised if pain goes with paracetamol it shouldn’t be anything to worry about.
Wednesday I went to work as normal but throughout the day the pain intensified and would not go away with paracetamol, I got home, put my son to bed and called the gynae emergency to get advice, explained how everything had been the past few days and was advised to come in. I drove myself to hospital thinking I would be back home in a couple of hours after being told I just had gas. It was about 8pm at this point.
Got to hospital and went through the normal emergency procedure to be able to go to gynae outpatients, got there still able to walk and still not in an extreme amount of pain. Was called into the gynae admissions room where again I explained my situation, they checked my stomach and called the doctors on call to do an ultrasound and from here things started happening in a blur. They did an internal ultrasound and once done explained that they could see pockets of fluid around my fallopian tube which could be blood. They told me I will be admitted with a 75% chance of requiring surgery, this was around 10pm.
I then was admitted and taken into a room, given a gown and told to remove all jewellery. All this time messaging my partner confused saying I think I’m actually going for surgery now. They came in and went through the consent form with me and told me all risks etc… I was confused and asked does this mean I’m having the surgery now? They went to check and came back saying I would be taken down as soon as everything is ready. Messaged my partner and my mum to tell them what was happening.
Around 11.30pm I was taken down for surgery, the surgery was a laparoscopic surgery with a possibility of them needed to cut me open and the possibility of them also having to remove my fallopian tube.
I was put under general anaesthetic and woke up at 2.30am and messaged my partner, a doctor then came in and told me they had to remove a fallopian tube as, just as they thought the ectopic pregnancy had ruptured my tube.
I stayed in hospital for a further 2 days and was discharged on the Friday as soon as they knew I was ok.
Throughout the whole stay in hospital, the doctors and nurses came in with a smile, joked with me and made sure I was ok and was comfortable. I cannot thank them enough.
It was a total of 5.5 weeks from finding out I was pregnant to the surgery, and all along the way the nurses and doctors in hospital were understanding, cheerful and made a very hard time so much easier and more bearable.
I would like to give a few bits of advice to anyone finding out they are pregnant;
- Forget the 12-week rule! The worst can happen and the support of your friends, family and colleagues is important to help you through it. I did not tell some of my colleagues and having to explain the situation to them once I started needing to be off regularly and then for 2 weeks minimum after surgery was harder than it would have been if they knew I was pregnant.
- Anything that worries you go and get it checked out, it may be something and it may be nothing.
- If you have been told you have a chance of a pregnancy being ectopic, any pain you feel go in! The doctors even told me they would prefer that I “wasted their time” that the worst happened because I was scared that I would have gone for no reason.
I am now trying to decide whether to try again in the future and get back on track with everything and feel better emotionally and physically. But although a hard time it is possible to get through it just make sure you reach out for support if needed!
You can read further about what happens during a miscarriage as well as about how it is handled here in Malta here.
