Ectopic pregnancy is an important cause of maternal mortality in the United States.
However, no comprehensive national statistics on ectopic pregnancies have been obtained in routinely collected data. This report summarizes data on ectopic pregnancy among females 15-44 years of age, documenting the estimated number and characteristics of females discharged from hospitals after treatment for ectopic pregnancy and describing the characteristics of females who died from this condition. For every 1,000 reported pregnancies during that period, an estimated 7.1 were ectopic. For each denominator, the rate more than doubled in the period 1970-1978. The ectopic pregnancy rates increased with age when live births or reported pregnancies were used as denominators.