HELP! Flying with a potential ectopic pregnancy??

[LouLou9401]

Hi Ladies,
I am currently in Taiwan living with family after backpacking for a few months.
I found out I was pregnant a few weeks ago, I'm now about 5 weeks, I was certain I wanted an abortion so went to the doctors clinic here and they couldn't find the foetus, fast-forward another appointment, they still cant find it and now think its outside the womb, potentially an ectopic pregnancy.
I need to fly back to the UK due to safety concerns of healthcare over here and also to have a support network - I don't have a choice.
Am I at risk of something happening to me on the flight because of this?

Any help to ease my mind would be fantastic!

Thanks,
Lou

Okay I’ve had two ectopics and I think you need to tread really carefully here.

When you say you are five weeks pregnant do you mean it’s been five weeks since your missed period, in which case you would be classed as nine weeks pregnant?

Are you still testing positive? It couldn’t just have been an early chemical pregnancy to never show on a scan?

Have you got travel/health insurance in Taiwan? Can you get advice from a specialist you trust?

I don’t want to be dramatic but the pressure change on a plane could cause a rupture and then you wouldn’t have time to land the plane even in an emergency. I ruptured IN a hospital and still nearly died.

I think you need more information before you can get on a plane, sorry. A pregnancy of unknown location isn’t something to take a chance on.

Good luck.

You need to take proper medical advice not ask random people on the internet.

But as the poster above says this needs to be considered very carefully.

That sounds really difficult, OP. I’m sorry.

Healthcare in Taiwan may be better than the UK at present- what are the concerns? Will your insurance cover it? Can someone come out to be with you?

If it ruptures you can bleed to death quite quickly. A plane is unlikely to be able to divert and get you to safe medical care quickly enough.
You really need to seek more information about what is actually going on. Have you had any HCG blood tests? There is a pattern the numbers will follow if it is an ectopic pregnancy as opposed to a very early miscarriage.

You would be crazy to long haul fly with a potential ectopic. And risk dying on the plane.
Spend the money on private healthcare in taiwan
Wait til you know for sure what this is

What are your safety concerns about medical care in Taiwan? It's fine

If you really can't be persuaded - and read Lividity's post carefully, as yes that could really happen to you - then fly to Hong Kong for treatment (good as or better than UK).

But check your insurance before doing this - being billed for a diverted flight isn't something an individual can usually afford, and as you know you have an ectopic pregnancy, it might mean you are not covered

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for your input, I have spoken to a medical professional who has advised that it should be safe as I am so early (under 5 weeks) and if it was to rupture, it would be some slight spotting and not painful! The main concern would be if I was 8 weeks or more as there would be a bigger risk.

Much less panicky now 😊

Thanks!

Hi OP,

I think there’s a misunderstanding here somewhere. You said you found out you were pregnant “a few weeks ago”. This isn’t physically possible if you were only five weeks pregnant using medical terminology where you find out you are pregnant at a missed period or “four weeks pregnant”.

I fear your medical professional has misunderstood your terminology. If you found out “ a few weeks ago” you are DEFINITELY not only five weeks pregnant using correct terminology and this is a critical distinction.

Can you tell us the date of your last period and when you found out? Ectopics can rupture at any time but the 8-9 week mark, which I suspect you might be, is critical.

Also, if she really said a RUPTURE would be slight spotting and not painful then she wasn’t talking about a ruptured Fallopian tube. There’s no way that’s a thing.

A rupture means your tube will burst and pour blood into your abdomen until you die or have surgery. Honestly, there’s no such thing as a little gentle rupture.

Rupture doesn't mean anything to do with the foetus

It means your fallopian tube will rip open and you'll bleed into your abdomen. I've seen this happen in real time on a ward and it's been touch and go to get them to theatre. I really wouldn't fly with a suspected one. You risk potentially dying

@Lividity is correct, the dates of pregnancy don't quite add up as if you found out a few weeks ago then you would be more than 5 weeks. A fallopian tube rupture is life threatening regardless of gestation. I hope you seek further medical advice, can you contact a private gynaecology/obstetric specialist in Taiwan?

Hi op. When was your period due?

I went for an abortion at about 6/7 weeks and they couldn't find the foetus so was referred to hospital as they feared ectopic and I was still testing positive. They still couldn't find anything and I started bleeding / miscarrying the next day. So you might be having an early miscarriage.

Do you have health insurance?

Assuming you have insurance ring them and they will liaise with the doctors over there and establish best course of action.

I can understand you're a bit more relaxed because you don't want this pregnancy but it could affect your future fertility and immediate health

Hello!

Sorry for the confusion,

The first day of my last period was 21st November and it ended on the 26th November.

It was after this period that I met the said person and started to have sex with him, judging from my menstrual tracker where I put the days we had sex, the conception must have been either the week after or during my ovulation week making it a max of 6 weeks. I knew something was wrong with my body about 2 weeks after my ovulation.. I was highly emotional/depressed and had slight cramps. I am now officially 10 days late from my December period so that works out to roughly 6 weeks?

In regards to the health care here, it is very good however we have been advised by the doctors here to go back to the UK for safety concerns and also to be with a strong support network.

Xx

I find the advice you're getting really puzzling.

An ectopic pregnancy can cause a rupture from as early as six weeks. Why (especially given that you want to terminate) aren't they treating this? They don't need to locate the embryo. They need to give you (usually a single) injection - a medically induced abortion, which is what you'd likely have had anyway.

You really shouldn't fly at this stage. 1 in 100 pregnancies are ectopic. Of course they can treat them safely in Taiwan. They'd have been able to treat this from week 4 given you don't want to keep the pregnancy. You need to find good healthcare there, quite urgently, and get on with the safe and straightforward treatment.

Rupture can happen at different stages, depending partly where the embryo is - which it seems they don't know.

Please be careful here.

Should add that if it's ectopic you may get spotting well before it ruptures, but that's not the rupture itself.

I think the medical professional was thinking this was a miscarriage. Their advice really isn't accurate.

Please don't fly. I had an ectopic and started having internal bleeding at 6 and a half weeks. I literally went from being fine, to horrific stomach pains and everytime I stood up everything went black. Turned out that was because of internal bleeding and how low my blood pressure dropped, I was in a and e an hour after the pain started and in surgery later that day. If I'd been on a flight I would've died. I literally had no symptoms until that morning that anything was wrong. The hospital acted very quickly as it was urgent they removed the fallopian tube before it fully ruptured, don't risk that happening to you on a plane.

Errrrm well that doctor is totally wrong

You can rupture at any time with hcg as low as 5 - you can be 4 weeks pregnant or 14 doesn't matter. Even if your hcg levels are decreasing you can still rupture

You are advised not to fly

(I nearly died twice from 2 ruptured ectopics and I can tell you it wasn't just a bit of spotting......)

Could you fly a friend or relation out to advocate for you and support you there, instead?

Any travel insurance you have will almost certainly not cover you if you knowingly travel with an ectopic pregnancy. This means that you would personally be liable for any costs incurred including the diversion of the plane

Rupture and you die without emergency surgical intervention.

I nearly died AND I was in hospital at the time!

I had an ectopic I went from fine in the morning to nearly dead by tea time, I live 15 mins from the hospital and they said if I'd been half an hour later I wouldn't be here, you really need to speak to a different medical professional!!

Don't risk flying back to the UK. They need to help you over there