Go for scan when pregnancy is suspected – Gynaecologist

Go for scan, when pregnancy is suspected – Gynaecologist
By Jacinta Nwachukwu/Uche Bibilari
Pregnancy
Abuja, Nov. 14, 2018 (NAN) Dr Nathaniel Adewole, a Gynaecologist, has advised pregnant women to go for proper scanning instead of self medication to avoid ectopic pregnancy.
Adewole of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, gave the advice on Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He enjoined women to go for scan once they suspect pregnancy to ensure the rightful location of the pregnancy.
He described ectopic pregnancy as one of the leading causes of maternal death among women of bearing age, adding that it might represent 0.2 per cent of five pregnancies.
“ Ectopic pregnancy is the location of pregnancy outside the normal internal cavity or womb and it could be in the abdomen, pelvic, ovary or in the tube especially.
“When it is not ruptured, it could lead to anaemia, internal bleeding, and even to death,” he said.
According to him, it usually presents with abdominal pain due to the location, saying that sometime the woman may not know that she has missed her menstrual period.
The gynaecologist explained that when the pregnancy was located in the womb (the normal cavity), it would expand up to 1,000 times of the normal size and it would be accommodated.
“But when it is located in the tube, there will be a problem because the tube cannot expand,” he said.
Adewole identified infection, pelvic inflammatory disease as well as abnormality of the tube as the predisposing factors to ectopic pregnancy.
“If the tube is totally blocked, unable to transport the fertilised egg to the womb, it could lead to ectopic pregnancy.’’
He also said that ectopic pregnancy was common among women of bearing age and contributed to the rate of maternal death in the country.
“This is because a woman might collapse and die in some places as a result of the kind of pregnancy she experienced.”
Adewole, however, said that treatment of ectopic pregnancy could be by operation, if it had not ruptured, adding that sometime it can melt by itself before the person noticed it.
He said that proper diagnosis and treatment of pelvic inflammatory disease would prevent infertility and ectopic pregnancy in future. (NAN)
JIN/UU/MOL/DUA/MST
Edited by Dada Ahmed/Muhammad Suleiman Tola