Ectopic or tubal pregnancy brings up many questions for women who go through this situation. Can a woman who has just lost one of her fallopian tubes still get pregnant? What are the difficulties of getting pregnant with only one tube? Will she still be able to become a mother? To answer all these questions, first and foremost, everything should start with your doctor’s evaluation after the incident. It’s crucial to find out why the tubal pregnancy happened. Did this woman already have a problem before this pregnancy, or was it just a coincidence?
A pregnancy in the fallopian tubes is nothing more than the embryo implanting in the wrong place1. Instead of implanting in the uterus, it attaches to the tube, which can happen for various reasons. One of them is tubal obstruction. This can have several causes, such as infection of the tubes by a disease contracted sexually or developed over the years by collections of coaxial masses from some procedures or even a previous childbirth. Adhesions are another condition that can cause tubal pregnancy. But in the vast majority of cases, this type of pregnancy occurs by mere chance. Even if a woman has no apparent problems in her tubes, it can still happen.
The difficulty of getting pregnant with only one tube may exist without a woman even knowing it because, even if she hasn’t had a tubal pregnancy, other conditions can also cause trouble conceiving. As women ovulate from one ovary at a time in alternating cycles, the difficulty of getting pregnant increases. Sometimes it’s the right ovary, other times the left, and depending on which side she has the tube, she should have more frequent intercourse during that cycle.
What Tests Can Be Done to Check for Difficulty Getting Pregnant?
The fear of not being able to get pregnant again can haunt women who have experienced an ectopic pregnancy. But to minimize this fear, some tests can be performed. For example, hysterosalpingography. It checks the patency of the fallopian tubes or the remaining tube, as well as indicating if it is healthy2. An unobstructed tube is the ideal condition and is certainly one of the first steps towards a future healthy pregnancy.
Another exam that can be done is an ultrasound. If done at the right time, it is possible to see when the woman is ovulating. It also checks if the ovary is working on the same side as the healthy tube, and at this point the woman will know that during the present cycle or the next, she has a chance to get pregnant. It is important to have this exam during the fertile period. A serial ultrasound can make all the difference, and you can talk to your doctor about it. To be more certain about your fertile period and when ovulation occurs, ovulation tests are a safe and quick option. Using ovulation tests3 will help indicate when your fertile period is approaching so you can know the right time to have intercourse and increase your chances of getting pregnant. You can find Famivita ovulation tests here in our online store.
Despite the difficulty of getting pregnant with only one tube, are there chances of having another ectopic pregnancy? Most cases of tubal pregnancy are due to chance. Often the woman has no problem at all with her tube, and yet the pregnancy happens in the wrong location. That’s why it’s so important to have routine exams even before a couple tries to conceive. This way, you can identify possible problems before they occur. If you had a pregnancy like this and had to have a tube removed, know that the difficulty of getting pregnant with only one tube is real, but it does not prevent it from happening. Have frequent intercourse during the cycle in which ovulation is occurring with the healthy tube and good luck!
