An ectopic pregnancy is when a pregnancy starts to grow outside the uterus (womb). In the UK, one in 90 (just over 1%) pregnancies is an ectopic pregnancy.

When you become pregnant, the sperm and egg meet in the fallopian tube (the tube that carries the egg from the ovary to the uterus). Usually, the fertilised egg moves into the uterus for the pregnancy to grow and develop. If this does not happen, an ectopic pregnancy may start to develop in a fallopian tube (sometimes known as a tubal pregnancy). An ectopic pregnancy can occur in places other than a fallopian tube, such as in the ovary (rarely) or inside the abdomen (very rarely).

This information is about an ectopic pregnancy in the fallopian tube. It can be downloaded as a pdf by clicking on the link below.

• An ectopic pregnancy – Information for you.