Wigan mum hopes 'lifeline' charity support can help others affected by pregnancy loss

Lois Rowland is a fund-raising support co-ordinator for Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, which is holding its first Ectopic Pregnancy Awareness Day on Monday, August 1.

She started raising money for the charity in 2019 and then became a volunteer, following an ectopic pregnancy in 2011.

Lois, from Standish, said: “My husband and I had been trying for a baby for quite some time. We conceived with fertility treatment. It was my first ever pregnancy and I got very excited.

"Things weren’t quite right though and I started with spotting. Because I was under the fertility clinic, they were doing blood tests and they knew something wasn’t quite right, but it took some time for them to diagnose it as ectopic.”

Lois was taken for surgery but doctors could not find the pregnancy. Once it was found in a scan, she went back to theatre a week later so the pregnancy could be removed.

She said: “I was emotionally devastated. Physically I was battered and bruised. I felt very lost because it wasn’t a miscarriage and I felt isolated because it didn’t come under the umbrella of baby loss in the way people speak about.

"That’s how I found the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust and finding people who knew what I was going through was a massive support system for me. Being able to talk to them and not have people judge me was great.

"I could be open and honest with them and there was no judgement. People understood the emotions I felt were normal. It was a lifeline.”

Lois, 36, now has two children – a nine-year-old daughter and six-year-old son – but has not forgotten her first pregnancy.

She hopes Ectopic Pregnancy Awareness Day will help other women and their loved ones.

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has agreed to light its Tree of Hope outside Wigan Infirmary in purple on Monday.

Rabina Tindale, the trust’s chief nurse, said: “We are committed to raising awareness of ectopic pregnancies and what can be a life-threatening and traumatic event for the one in 80 women who experience them. These pregnancies are often planned and wanted and have a huge emotional impact on both the parents and their families.

"For those who have been affected by this type of pregnancy loss, lighting up our Tree of Hope in the symbolic purple colour is a small gesture to show our support and solidarity.”

An ectopic pregnancy happens when a fertilised egg implants outside the uterus, such as in a Fallopian tube, abdomen or even in scar tissue from a previous Caesarean section.

Lois said: “On average three to five women die in the UK every year with ectopic pregnancies and quite often a lot of women don’t know about it and their partners don’t know what to look out for. Often medical professionals don’t know what to look for either, because things like miscarriage or appendicitis can be considered, and it can delay treatment and lead to more extensive treatment.

"While we can’t stop ectopic pregnancies, we are hoping early diagnosis will make a difference.”

To find out more about ectopic pregnancies, go to ectopic.org.uk