Below I share two stories of two ladies who courageously chose to share what happened to them, in the hopes that it helps someone else and brings more awareness.
By Kayleigh Davis
Since the latest law in the US has been changed so that abortions of any kind whether it is for health reasons or due to personal choice have been made illegal. I express my views on this life changing matter for many women.
In the UK, 1 in every 90 pregnancies end up as an ectopic pregnancy that is 11,000 pregnancies per year alone that need urgent medical procedures to terminate the pregnancy. What the US is saying is you are killing the potential baby, the baby that is not even a baby yet, it is what the health professionals say is a ‘mass’ or a pregnancy outside of the uterus.
No! All this law will do is kill these innocent women every year, why are these uneducated people being able to choose the life of these women. They say it’s to ‘save a life’ it’s not saving a life, it is killing the women carrying a pregnancy that will not and cannot be viable.
In 2020 I had an ectopic pregnancy whereby my egg got released and fertilised but never made it to the womb, it got stuck in my fallopian tube. A very dangerous medical worry, as the pregnancy continues there is a serious concern that the fallopian tube can burst, this can be life threating.
The options given to me at the hospital were to continue with the pregnancy but be in extreme danger in which the baby would never get anywhere close to surviving and my life would be put at risk. The second option was to have surgery to remove the whole fallopian tube to completely make sure the pregnancy would not continue. Or option three have a course of methotrexate which is a drug used for cancer patients in the attempt to dissolve masses.
As I knew I definitely wanted children and to give myself the best opportunity in the future, I decided to go through the methotrexate route which is a very intense procedure and mentally difficult for the best part of 6 weeks. This was technically a medical induced abortion for health reasons.
Although that was very hard for me to go through I would not be here today if the pregnancy continued. This is all because of choice! Choice that I could access health services, choice that I could choose my life. Choice that health professionals could help me through this difficult time.
I stand with women and I stand with choices, we need to be able to keep the choices about our own bodies!
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ectopic-pregnancy/
Anonymous
Not in a million years did I think I would be writing a blog like this. For one, I have had two amazing pregnancies and secondly, I’m very fit and healthy, so I didn’t think pregnancy loss would ever happen to me. Slightly naive right? Pregnancy loss is not spoken about a lot and is becoming so common now, but you just don’t expect it to happen to yourself. So a bit of a back story…
I had no idea I was pregnant, and I had no idea what an ectopic pregnancy was, it was way over my head.
People often don’t know the signs and the seriousness of this type of miscarriage. An ectopic pregnancy is where the pregnancy doesn’t make it to the uterus. In my case it implanted in a fallopian tube causing me immense pain.
This has been one of the most terrifying and unknown experiences I have ever had so I write this story to educate you and to help educate others of a few of the warning signs. I hope that if this does happen to someone that you can catch it early on and get the help and support needed.
- Sharp or stabbing pain in the pelvis or abdomen area
- A change in your vaginal bleeding.
- Dizzy or fainting episodes
- Low levels of HCG which can be detected in blood tests.
For me I had no sickness, I was still having periods just very light and irregular, so I wasn’t aware I was pregnant. So, when I started to have cramps and dizzy spells, I knew something wasn’t right it was very out of character for me. Everyone’s experience is different but no matter how big or small, pregnant or not it is always best to get checked out as being left can result in serious on-going health issues.
Not just physical health issues but mental health issues also. Reading and sharing stories can be a great help when recovering from an emotional situation. Talking is always better than suppressing.
And I hope that brings me to a good point to explain that these blogs that Lucy kindly lets us share not only helps others but also helps ourselves, so reach out and share your story you don’t know who you might be helping.
