Introduction
In recent years the rapid increase in global population and turn it has come to be a global issue. There have therefore been several devised ways to curb this problem of overpopulation through various method which has proved of great help although they have their shortcomings in the body of the users. Those methods are either natural or artificial and are referred to as family planning. It is very important to understand our bodies and what is the best and works best and effectively, to achieve this we need to seek medical attention so that we reduce the degree of effectiveness (Mahboob & Mazhar, 2006, p.35). This also ensures that that especially for the artificial family planning methods, they are correctly used to minimize cases of failure of contraception.
Definitions
Among the artificial contraception is the Implanon which s among the recent upcoming methods. It is a control implant that is inserted under the skin. Usually, it is put in the upper arm where it can easily be removed. It is a small piece of plastic rod of about 40 mm in length and a width of 2mm. It is made up of progestin which flows to the blood to inhibit conception. However, the Implanon itself which is usually made of silica does not get absorbed in the body and hence it has to be physically removed in case the person wants to conceive. In most cases once inserted, it takes about three years or up to ten years while still effective not unless the person wants to have it removed and once removed conception may take place immediately or take a few months and a person conceives a healthy baby (Page, et.al, 2001, p. 211). The process of insertion takes only a short time normally minutes and the process is complete, removing also takes about a few minutes. They can be used by most women without complications as long as they are mature enough and have reached the age of reproduction and who do not want to conceive while on the other hand, they are sexually active. They can be used by women who have children or those who do not have them without affecting their future chances of conception. Research indicates that the degree of failure for the method of birth control is usually one percent.
Ectopic pregnancy may be defined as the kind of pregnancy in which embryos do not move to the womb and instead implant on the walls of the fallopian tube or any other party other than the lining of the womb. Some of the other places it occurs are in the ovarian, cervical, or abdominal (Page, et.al, 2001, p. 211). Ectopic pregnancy is dangerous and needs urgent medical attention because if not urgently attended to it might lead to the death of the mother. They are brought about by various things one of them being that in case it fails and a woman ends up being pregnant then there is a higher likelihood that the resultant pregnancy is ectopic than if it were a case where the woman was using natural birth control or other methods of family planning.
The one percent failure is said to be caused since the method has a post-fertilization tendency whereby an egg may be fertilized. The hormones are released to create a difficult environment for the fertilized egg to develop, in case this fails then the woman results being in ectopic pregnancy. However, a problem occurs in that the thick mucus formed does not allow the embryo to move to the womb hence the development of ectopic pregnancy. It is also not clear even to the researchers how a fertilized egg is expulsed from the body without causing harm to the mother or her realizing it.
It is also not clear how or what happens as most women still experience their ovulation as usual. This means that the sperm can still reach the egg and fertilize it (Speroff, et.al, 1999, p. 1149). It is, therefore, possible to have the embryo growing in case the hormonal contraceptive fails to form the hard wall then it is very obvious that ectopic pregnancy will have to develop. However, it is in rare cases that such pregnancies occur as a result of the failure of the implant. This can therefore explain the reason why it is possible to have a pregnancy when one is using an implant as a method of contraception.
Signs of Ectopic Pregnancy, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Most of the signs are undetectable since they initially can be confused with those of early pregnancy. In most cases the pregnant mother suffers from nausea, the breasts may enlarge and becomes very soft, some vomit and continuous feeling like they have urine. In addition to those normal signs the person may feel sharp pains in the abdomen, pelvis and the pain may move to the back and the shoulders, there may be blood spotting or bleeding (Lyons, et.al, 2006, p. 368). There are instances when the ectopic pregnancy bursts, when this happens the person suffers from very sharp pains especially falling on one side of the pelvis, and varies in degree, this is besides heavy bleeding. Other times the mother may be suffering fainting due to excessive blood loss or even the blood pressure may have gone down which is very dangerous and very sharp pains on the back.
Once a woman notices those abnormalities, it is necessary to have proper medical tests. Once the doctors do the tests and the woman shows some bleeding and at the same time the pregnancy test becomes positive, then there is a need for ultrasound. Ultrasound is a useful way in that it brings out a difference between a normal pregnancy and an ectopic pregnancy. This is because, in the cases of ectopic pregnancy, the gestational bag appears in the fallopian tube with a fetal heart in it (Kemmann, et.al, 1994, p. 123). When this is clear, further tests are necessary to make sure that the results are right.
The medical practitioner then tests blood rise using a Human Chorionic Gonadotropin also known in short as the (HCG). When it shows a rise then it is very clear that the pregnancy is ectopic. This should be done the second time for further clarifications. Once it is very clear that the ectopic pregnancy is present it is necessary to undertake other tests such as culdocentesis a method in which some fluid is gotten from the virginal or rectum which is then tested to determine if there is internal bleeding. Another method used is laparotomy also known as laparoscopy (Tay, et.al, 2000, P.133). When all results show positive results that the pregnancy is ectopic, and then immediate medical treatment is necessary.
When detected early enough the doctor may decide on medical treatment. This terminates the developing embryo, by causing abortion or it flows together with the woman’s menstrual period (Kemmann, et.al, 1994, p. 124). If it had already developed to hemorrhage, medication may not be of help and the only other option is surgical intervention. In most cases, if not well attended and the doctors are not careful it may lead to the death of the mother, or in other cases it may affect future fertility.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is therefore very important to have one tested by a medical doctor before opting for any method of birth control. In most cases the contraceptives if well used will be effective, and in rare cases will there be complications of conceptions although there are side effects that are even worse if the women are not careful when using them. It is also very important to ensure that women do not buy drugs over the counter. It is also a success that artificial family planning and especially implants have remained to be among the most popular and effective means of birth control. Ectopic pregnancies are not solely caused by contraceptives by there are so many other reasons and only rare cases can be blamed on contraception. There is also hope for those with ectopic pregnancies because in recent times it can be managed to have a live baby as there are few who have survived it. There is also hope to have children in the future before olden cases when most people who had ectopic had no hope of getting other children (Tay, et.al, 2000, P.134). It is also important for women to visit gynecologists to have medical checkups to prevent future problems that can be treated if detected early.
References
Kemmann, E. Trout ,S., & Garcia, A., 1994. Can we predict patients at risk for persistent ectopic pregnancy after laparoscopic salpingotomy? The Journal of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists 1 (2), pp.122–126.
Lyons, R. Saridogan, E., & Djahanbakhch, O., 2006. The reproductive significance of human Fallopian tube cilia. Hum Reprod Update, 12 (4), pp. 363–72.
Mahboob, U., & Mazhar, S., 2006. Management of ectopic pregnancy: a two-year study. Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad: JAMC, 18 (4), pp. 34–137.
Page, E. Villee, C., & Villee, D., 2001. Human Reproduction, 2nd Ed. Philadelphia: Victoria Donohoe.
Speroff, L. Glass, R., & Kase, N., 1999. Clinical Gynecological Endocrinology and Infertility, 6th Ed. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Tay, J. Moore. J., & Walker, J., 2000. Ectopic pregnancy. West J Med, 173(2), pp.131– 134.