Not Medical Advice: According to The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, ectopic pregnancy can be notoriously difficult to diagnose because it often presents with symptoms that can be suggestive of other, more usual, conditions such as gastroenteritis, miscarriage or even appendicitis.
In diagnosing an ectopic pregnancy, medical professionals are likely to undertake some or all of the following test:
Urinary Pregnancy Tests - The first and most useful basic test for diagnosing an ectopic pregnancy is a urinary pregnancy test. Because these tests are reliant on the hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone produced by a fertilised egg after conception, these can sometimes produce a false negative result because the hormone is not present in high enough levels to test positively.
Ultrasound scanning - Whether a woman has a positive urinary pregnancy test or not, if she has ectopic pregnancy symptoms, good practice would then be to investigate with an ultrasound scan, ideally within 24 hours.
Beta hCG Blood Tests - The hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (better known as hCG) is produced during pregnancy by specialised trophoblast cells, which are only found in the body as a result of a fertilised egg implanting. Increased progesterone production from the ovary that ovulated prepares the endometrium, but it is the hCG that sustains the pregnancy.
Learn more about ectopic pregnancy, its symptoms, causes, risks and treatment at American Pregnancy Association.
Making smart food choices can help you have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Check out some diet tips for pregnancy shared by Healthfinder.