Undetected Ectopic Pregnancy Leaves Women in Coma

[lynn82md.livejournal.com]

The family of a pregnant woman who has been in a coma since Sunday is blaming the hospital that they say failed to realize she was experiencing a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and bleeding internally.

Lisa Avila, 36, of Anaheim, California, was 12 weeks pregnant when she woke up on Valentine's Day with severe pain in her abdomen, her aunt, Jessica Jule, said at a news conference Tuesday. Doctors at Anaheim Regional Medical Center's emergency room did an ultrasound, said her baby was fine and sent her away with a prescription for painkillers, Jule said.

Afterward, her husband left her in their car while he went into a pharmacy, and when he returned, Avila was unconscious and not breathing, Jule said. Paramedics rushed her back to the same hospital, where they learned Avila had an ectopic pregnancy, meaning the fetus was developing outside the uterus, Jule said.

The ectopic pregnancy ruptured, causing her to bleed internally, the aunt said.

From later on in the article:
"Ruptured ectopic pregnancy is the number one cause of maternal mortality in the first trimester," Ashton said. "If it ruptures, women can lose liters of blood very quickly."

Signs include pelvic pain on one side, dark red vaginal bleeding and a positive pregnancy test, Ashton said. Because they ultimately lead to life-threatening miscarriages, treatment for ectopic pregnancy is usually surgery or medication to end the pregnancy.

Seriously, I find ectopic pregnancy to be freaking scary....especially when I read articles like these and the comments on the article from women that went through it.