Can I Have a Baby After an Ectopic Pregnancy?

Sep. 21, 2016

Dear Cathy:

After having two kids and after divorcing my husband, I meet a wonderful man. However, when trying to have our own family, I ended up having an ectopic pregnancy. Can you explain what is an ectopic pregnancy and can I get pregnant again after having this type of pregnancy? Just One More Baby, New York

Dear One More Baby:

Yes you can get pregnant again after this type of pregnancy. First of all let me explain exactly what an Ectopic Pregnancy is. 

In a normal pregnancy, your ovary releases an egg into your fallopian tube. If the egg meets with a sperm, the fertilized egg moves into your uterus to attach to its lining and continues to grow for the next 9 months.

But in up to 1 of every 50 pregnancies, the fertilized egg stays in your fallopian tube. In that case, it's called an ectopic pregnancy or a tubal pregnancy.

In rare cases, the fertilized egg attaches to one of your ovaries, another organ in your abdomen, the cornua (or horn) of the uterus or even the cervix. 

In any case, instead of celebrating your pregnancy, you find your life is in danger. Ectopic pregnancies require emergency treatment, where they have to go in and clean out your womb.

Ectopic pregnancies usually happens within the first few weeks of pregnancy. You might not even know you're pregnant yet, so it can be a big shock. 

Doctors usually discover it by the 8th week of pregnancy. But again, most women go on to get pregnant again after these types of pregnancies unless they are taking some type of birth control.