Pregnant very soon after laparoscopy for ectopic

[adawn]

Hi.  Very sorry if this has already been discussed, I could not find a link.  I was wondering if anyone has become pregnant very soon after having a laparoscopic removal of a fallopian tube and had a successful unmedicated vaginal birth? 

I had an ectopic pregnancy in March of this year, and ended up having one of my tubes removed.  About a month later, I apparently got pregnant but did not know I was pregnant until I was around 10 weeks.  We were not trying, I just didn't think I would get pregnant so easily with my age, and after having a tube removed.   I have discussed this with my midwife, wondering if everything will be ok during the stress of the labor, and she seems to think the scarring is minimal and should not be a problem.  But since the ectopic, I have such a nagging feeling that something will go wrong (major distrust with my body these days). 

I had a natural/vaginal birth with my first son, but this pregnancy has been so different both physically and emotionally.  I think if I could just find someone who had a successful vaginal birth so soon after having one of their tubes removed, I would feel better about the whole thing.  I just don't want this fear to crop up during my labor, I know how pesky those deep down fears can be during labor, no matter how illogical. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[hildare]

it's so difficult to recover mentally from an ectopic. 

with mine, i was treated with methotrexate, so i can't speak to your experience, but i did get pregnant and have dd the pregnancy following my ectopic- and those feelings of fear and worry about something going wrong, are, i think, just part of PAL.  at least they were for me. 

i cannot think of a single reason that you would not be able to have a great pregnancy just based on what happened to you recently, though-- you're past the point of a repeat ectopic, and at 10 weeks, especially if you've seen/heard a heartbeat, your chances of problems are pretty low!!! 

you might want to check out this site, there are message boards and a forum, and there might be people on there who have positive stories for you-- http://www.ectopic.org.uk/  and the forums site is this http://www.ectopic.org.uk/forums/ 

[Milan]

I to have been trying to find the answer to this question. Although I am not pregnant and I had a laparoscopy in 2007 for an ectopic pregnancy I'm still curious as to weather it is safe to have a unmedicated, vaginal birth I'm 25 and my son is now 6 so I'm ready t have my next and final child but the fear of not bein able to have an unmedicated, vaginal birth scares me. My son was born without any meds and I prefer to have it that way again.

[MadelinesMama]

I work in surgery and have seen the procedure you are talking about many times.  I cannot think of any way this should inhibit your natural/med free birth.  You are going to do great!

[adawn]

After speaking with my midwife again about this concern, and gathering information from different message boards across the web, all of the info I've found points toward the fact that there should NOT be a problem with having an unmedicated vaginal birth after a laparascopy.  Even if the uterus was damaged, it has an amazing ability to heal itself...only when you have a 'classical incision' into the uterus is there even a worry (which is not done in a laparascopic procedure, to my knowledge, but i would tend to listen to the surgeon for the facts on this).  My tube was removed, and as far as I know, my uterus was not cut into at any point.  The scars on my stomach barely had time to heal, but at 27 weeks they are stretching out nicely.  From my experience with my first natural birth, I would tend to think that it would actually be safer than going with the epidural, because you can feel what is happening in your body, and you can choose when to slow your labor if there is a problem (again, opinion only, i'm not a doctor). 

I've decided to treat this just like my other birth, daily affirmations, meditation, focusing on the amazing things that my body can do, and putting trust in my body, my baby and my midwife.  They all have really great experience with this. :-)

[Ramzubo]

I had a tube removed from an ectopic back in March as well and am now 27 weeks along. The doc who did my laparoscopy was also my doc early on in this pregnancy and said there should be no problems with a natural birth. I think that's the whole point of going with the laparoscopies is that the scarring is minimal. I've not be told anything that would make me worry that the surgery is going to cause problems during the birth.

As for the scars stretching, sometimes they itch, but otherwise I haven't had any problems.

[mom2a4Rashelle]

I had my right tube removed with an ectopic in July 2006 followed by a hystosalpingogram to make sure my left tube was clear before we tried again. I got preggers that same cycle just 3 months after our loss. I went on to deliver a beautiful healthy baby girl who was followed by a surprise just 13 months later. The last one was born at home, so un-medicated. Here I am finding myself preggers with baby #5....If everything goes as planned I will have gotten pregnant with 1 tube 3x's.... fyi my last 3 births were Vbac's as my 1st was a c-section...I could not agree more, I think un-medicated allows us to feel what is happening! good luck

[minkin03]

I had a ruptured ectopic in July 2004 where I lost my right tube (had a lap). I ended up getting pg with dd#2 in March of 2005 and had a natural, extremely fast, drug free birth in December 2005.