Ever since my friend's harrowing experience with a tubal pregnancy, I've been worried that I will have one too. What do ectopic pregnancy statistics look like?
About 1 in every 50 pregnancies is an ectopic pregnancy. (Ectopic pregnancies are often called tubal pregnancies because the majority occur in the fallopian tubes.) In addition, several risk factors are known to boost the risk. So if you don't have those risk factors your odds may be actually lower than 1 in 50.
And although those ectopic pregnancy statistics might sound scary, you should also know that not every tubal pregnancy ends in emergency surgery -- especially if it is caught early. Many ectopic pregnancies end naturally on their own, and it is also increasingly common that doctors can treat early tubal pregnancies with medication that stops the growth of the ectopic pregnancy.
Source:
Ectopic and Molar Pregnancies. March of Dimes. Accessed: May 24, 2009. http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1189.asp
