A woman has told how doctors warned there was an 80 per cent chance she would die after surprising symptoms revealed she had an ectopic pregnancy.
Just a few weeks after finding out she was pregnant, Natalie Stapley Cutting knew “something was definitely wrong”. At seven weeks pregnant, she noticed a persistent tingling in her right thigh, coupled with some numbness and a stabbing pain in her right side.
Though her 12-week scan was on the horizon, Natalie saw her GP early to discuss her concerns. The 26-year-old claims she was given a clean bill of health.
But unsatisfied, she spent £90 on a private scan, which found an ectopic pregnancy.
She had life-saving surgery to remove the fertilised egg, the right fallopian tube and part of her uterus lining. Now, the military make-up artist is speaking out to urge women to trust their own bodies and always get a second opinion if they are in doubt.
Natalie, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, said: “I almost lost my life due to a misdiagnosis from my doctor. Private healthcare saved my life.”
Natalie and her husband, Tom Cutting, 27, who works as a mechanical technician, found out they were pregnant on December 6 2023. She was initially assured by her GP that her pregnancy was normal, but remained convinced that something wasn’t right.
She said: “The GP was convinced I was fine, but it just didn’t seem right to me. The doctors didn’t listen to me properly. If I had listened to my GP I don’t know where I’d be today.”
Natalie had a private scan on 16 December. “They found my uterus was empty,” she recalled. “As a private clinic, they couldn’t offer a diagnosis but recommended we go to King’s Mill Hospital immediately.”
Natalie underwent her first exploratory surgery on December 18, which detected the fertilised egg in her right fallopian tube – growing into her uterus lining.
An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes – which connect the ovaries to the womb. If the fertilised egg is found here it is unfortunately not possible to save the pregnancy and the growing tissue poses a danger to life if left untreated.
Natalie had surgery on December 19. She had to sign a waiver concerning the risk of death.
Natalie, who specialises as an army make-up artist preparing ‘casualties’ for training purposes, recovered from the surgery and now wishes to share her story to help others. If Natalie had waited until the 12-week scan as her GP advised, then she would have likely died from internal bleeding, she says.
Natalie has set up a podcast called Ectopic Pregnancy and Me on TikTok. She said: “I have set this up to create awareness to in turn help save lives and to create a community to support those suffering from an ectopic pregnancy and the mental health effects afterwards.
“I found a lot of support through the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust but in terms of aftercare there was no one really to talk to about concerns. I thought I would set up a community where people could help each other.”
Natalie has urged women to trust their own bodies and always get a second opinion, stating: “Women know their bodies best.”
The NHS lists symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy as a missed period and other signs of pregnancy, including:
- tummy pain low down on one side
- vaginal bleeding or a brown watery discharge
- pain in the tip of your shoulder
- discomfort when going to the loo
