Abortion

Knowing all your pregnancy options when navigating this journey is crucial. If you’re considering abortion, learn the side effects and risks beforehand and confirm key pregnancy details.

Abortion is a major medical procedure, and you deserve the facts before making a pregnancy decision. Continue reading to learn about abortion procedures.

Medical Abortion

Medical abortion terminates an early, viable pregnancy. This process is FDA-approved through ten weeks gestation and uses both mifepristone and misoprostol to end the pregnancy.

Mifepristone blocks progesterone, while misoprostol causes uterine contractions and expels the pregnancy tissue. If you have a medical abortion, you’ll experience vaginal bleeding and abdominal cramping.

Possible side effects of this process include:

• Headache
• Diarrhea
• Nausea with or without vomiting
• Fever
• Chills

You may also develop medical abortion-related risks, though these chances are low. Possible risks include:

• Infection
• Digestive system discomfort
• Fever
• Heavy, prolonged bleeding
• Incomplete abortion, which may require surgical treatment
• An ongoing pregnancy (if the medications don’t work)

Surgical Abortion

A surgical abortion procedure is usually performed later in pregnancy. During this procedure, the provider uses a combination of medication, surgical instruments, or suctioning to terminate the pregnancy. As with medical abortion, you’ll experience bleeding and cramping.

The risks of surgical abortion, while rare, can be severe. They include:

• Infection
• Uterine perforation
• Damage to the cervix
• Scar tissue on the uterine wall

Before An Abortion

If you’re considering abortion, it is vital to protect your health by receiving critical information. Visit a healthcare provider and review your complete medical history. Certain factors, such as allergies, having an IUD or certain health conditions, or being past a certain gestational age, can disqualify you from an abortion procedure.

You should also confirm your pregnancy with an obstetric ultrasound, which determines your pregnancy’s viability, gestational age, and location. The sonographer or nurse can determine whether your pregnancy is progressing normally or if you have a condition like miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. If you have an ectopic pregnancy, for example, you’ll need medical treatment and cannot have an abortion.

Pregnancy Help Center provides referrals for obstetric ultrasounds, and we plan to offer limited, transvaginal and abdominal ultrasounds with a positive pregnancy test by the year’s end. We also provide options counseling so you can get the information you need.

Request a free and confidential appointment today to get started.