Jenna Bush Hager Opens Up About Her Ectopic Pregnancy
By Bryce Gruber
Mar 23, 2023
Instagram.com/JennaBHager
Jenna Bush Hager is opening up about the toll ectopic pregnancy symptoms took on her body and what it was like to reconnect her body, mind and spirit during her fertility journey. During the Today show earlier this week, she chatted with Amanda Bartomoleo, the founder of CorePlay about her own history of prenatal fitness and fertility heartbreak.
"When I first met Amanda, we started talking about finding your core, and what that means metaphorically for women and obviously, literally," shared Jenna Bush Hager, who is mom to three young children. "We both realized we both had had ectopic pregnancies."
An ectopic pregnancy is the occurrence of a fertilized egg implanted outside the uterus, often in the nearby fallopian tubes. If these pregnancies are left to grow and advance, nearby organs can be damaged. Ectopic pregnancies are also often life-threatening for the women who carry them.
It's one of the reasons hCG levels are so frequently tested in early pregnancy.
Instagram.com/JennaBHagerJenna, 41, continued the discussion, sharing, "I had one years ago before I got pregnant with Mila. I hadn't really engaged my core because I've had six or seven stomach surgeries with C-sections, appendicitis and ectopic pregnancy."
"Before I had Mila, I had a pregnancy in my fallopian tube," she shared with Meredith Vieira back in 2019. "It was my first pregnancy."
She recounted finding out she was pregnant on vacation and later learning at her first doctor's appointment that something was very wrong."I got to the doctor's office and she said 'Yeah you're pregnant, we gave the blood test, but we can't find the baby,' " she said bravely. "I had no idea what an ectopic pregnancy was. They looked up and the baby was in my fallopian tube."
Jenna was rushed into emergency surgery shortly after. "It is very isolating. There is joy and there is pain."