A Senior Medical Officer at the Police Hospital, Dr. Faisal Ayembillah has said multiple abortions have been identified as the major cause of ectopic pregnancy cases in the country.
Speaking in an interview with Johnnie Hughes on TV3 New Day, Dr. Ayembilla revealed that women who suffer infections for over a period of 5-years, or those who have engaged in repeated abortions have been identified to suffer the condition most during pregnancy.
Ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus which causes blood loss and injuring of the organs around the uterus is left to grow.
Dr. Ayembillah said the dangerous aspect of this condition is that half of the women who suffer this, are not aware of this condition since the signs develop two months after conception.
Ectopic pregnancy, he added, is not hereditary and termed it as a condition that should receive a lot of medical attention.
“Yes as rightly mentioned, there are some risk factor, particularly, this one is not one of those that has anything to do with the hereditary conditions”
According to the doctor, aside the multiple abortions, the condition can occur due to the result of previous or not well treated infections.
“We know very well that when women get infections, and they do not know particularly the symptoms, and so let say you had an infection five years ago, it predisposes you to getting an ectopic pregnancy”.
Ectopic pregnancy is believed to affect women from the ages of 18-35years.
A damaged fallopian tube, use of fertility drugs, scarring from previous pelvic surgeries, pelvic inflammation diseases (PID) amongst a few others also cause ectopic pregnancy.
Treatments for this condition include medication and surgery to remove the tissue because the fertilized egg cannot survive outside the uterus.
By Ivy Osei-Owusu | 3news.com| Ghana