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Pregnancy After Tubal Pregnancy | Getting Pregnant After Ectopic

Getting pregnant after a tubal pregnancy can be difficult and there are risks. Women that have had ectopic pregnancies often have damaged, scarred or blocked tubes.

There are 2 main reasons that fallopian tubes in women that have had ectopics might be abnormal.

  • The tube was already damaged. Ectopics are often caused by scarred fallopian tubes which cause the early embryo to get stuck in the tube before it reaches the uterus.
  • Sometimes the fallopian tube was normal until the tubal pregnancy. A tubal pregnancy can cause significant damage to the inner lining of the tube.

Ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized embryo implants on a tissue other than the endometrial lining of the uterus. They are almost always in the fallopian tubes.

How to get pregnant after tubal pregnancy

  • Wait a few months for the damaged area to heal. Then try on your own – with the understanding that you are at high risk for a repeat tubal pregnancy (see below).
  • Or, have in vitro fertilization. We put 1 or 2 embryos into the middle of the uterine cavity with a very low risk for ectopic.

Fertility after ectopic pregnancy – chance for a successful pregnancy after a tubal pregnancy

  • Tube sparing surgery for small unruptured ectopics results in open tubes after healing in about 80% of cases.
  • The ratio of intrauterine to recurrent tubal pregnancy is about 6:1 but it rises to about 10:1 if the other tube appears normal.

After one ectopic and a tubal sparing surgery:

    The subsequent delivery rate is about 55%

  • The recurrent ectopic rate is about 15% (so about 20% of pregnancies are ectopics)
  • The infertility rate is about 30%

    If the other tube is absent or blocked:

    • The subsequent delivery rate is about 45%
    • The recurrent ectopic rate is about 20% (so about 30% of pregnancies are ectopics)
    • The infertility rate is about 35%

    After 2 or more ectopics and conservative surgery:

    • The subsequent delivery rate is about 25%
    • The recurrent ectopic rate is about 25% (so about 50% of pregnancies are ectopics).
    • The infertility rate is about 50%

    As a woman has more and more ectopics, the chances for a live birth delivery (without IVF treatment) become less and less.


    IVF after ectopic pregnancy

    In vitro fertilization, IVF will be the best option for having a successful pregnancy for many women with a history of tubal damage and one or more ectopic pregnancies.

    Our IVF success rates

    • Pregnancy success rates with IVF are excellent in (young) women with tubal problems
    • Tubal pregnancy results from in vitro in only about 3% of cases

What monitoring is needed in a second pregnancy after ectopic pregnancy

  • Any pregnancy after an ectopic needs to be carefully monitored in the early stage to confirm the location.
  • After the missed menstrual period or positive home pregnancy test, blood hCG levels can be done to evaluate whether they are rising at an appropriate rate.
  • By about 5 to 6 weeks of pregnancy transvaginal ultrasound can be done to confirm that there is a gestational sac and yolk sac within the uterine cavity.
  • If that is not seen by six weeks, suspicion should be high for another ectopic
  • Once the pregnancy is confirmed in the uterus, it can be treated normally
  • Pregnancy after tubal removal
  • Sometimes women will have both fallopian tubes surgically removed
  • This can be due to ectopic pregnancies or other tubal or pelvic problems
  • After the tubes are gone the only way to have a baby is with in vitro fertilization
  • IVF has high success rates for women without fallopian tubes (or with damaged tubes)
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