Can you carry an ectopic pregnancy to term?

An ectopic pregnancy is any pregnancy that develops outside of the uterus. The most common and well known form of ectopic pregnancy is a tubal pregnancy, but in some cases, an embryo can also implant itself on the cervix, on the abdomen, in the ovaries, or the joint between the uterus and the fallopian tubes. Tubal pregnancies are especially dangerous, but all forms of ectopic pregnancy can be life-threatening. Babies are not supposed to grow outside of the uterus and they do not have space to develop inside the tubes, which are likely to rupture if a baby sticks around there. Is it at all possible to carry an ectopic pregnancy to term?

Unfortunately, ectopic pregnancies can rarely be carried to term, or at least to viability. With tubal pregnancies, there is no chance that the pregnancy can go on. Sometimes, nature takes care of what would become a dangerous situation itself, and the woman with a tubal pregnancy will have a miscarriage. At other times, this will not happen, and the pregnancy will continue to develop inside the fallopian tube. In that case, medical intervention is of paramount importance. Failure to remove the embryo from the tube can result in its rupture, and an internal hemorrhage that can prove to be fatal. But in rare cases, a non-tubal ectopic pregnancy can indeed continue and result in a totally healthy baby.

I read this amazing story about a British mom who discovered that her baby was growing outside her uterus in her abdominal cavity later on in pregnancy, during an ultrasound. The baby had implanted on a portion of her bowel. Intense abdominal pains led her to seek medical treatment. During previous ultrasounds, the fact that the baby was in the wrong place was missed entirely and this mom's pregnancy miraculously continued. Baby Billy defied all odds and was delivered by cesarean section 29 weeks into pregnancy. So, ectopic pregnancies can, in some rare cases, result in a totally healthy baby. But it does not happen very often.