Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy through either drugs or surgical means. While the abortion pill (medical abortion) and surgical abortion work differently, they have the same outcome.
When considering an abortion, it’s essential to gather all the facts about the procedures, along with the risks and side effects. You owe it to yourself to make a confident decision with your future and health in mind.
Pregnancy Resources Plus in Alamogordo, NM, is here to help you during your unexpected pregnancy. Visit us today for no-cost pregnancy confirmation services.
The Abortion Pill: What Happens
The abortion pill ends and expels a pregnancy through the use of two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol.
Mifepristone blocks progesterone, an essential hormone that sustains pregnancy. The disruption in progesterone will end the pregnancy, causing the uterine lining to thin and the pregnancy to detach. Once detached, the pregnancy can’t survive.
About 24-48 hours after mifepristone, women typically take misoprostol. This will trigger the uterus to contract, leading to strong abdominal cramping and vaginal bleeding to expel the pregnancy and all related tissue. The uterus must fully empty or else there’s a risk of infection.
If women experience the following symptoms, they should seek emergency medical care:
- Foul-smelling vaginal odor or discharge
- Blood clots larger than a lemon
- Soaking two or more pads each hour for two hours in a row
- Bad pain in the stomach area or pelvis
- Chills or body aches
- Fast heart rate
- Fever lasting more than four hours or that starts in the days after misoprostol.
Surgical Abortion: What Happens
During a surgical abortion, an abortion provider will dilate the lower part of your uterus (cervix) using drugs or surgical tools.
Then, they will manually end the pregnancy using a mixture of suction or scraping with medical instruments like a curette to remove the fetus and related tissue from the uterus. They may pull out pieces of the pregnancy with forceps if the pregnancy is further along.
Sedation or local anesthesia is typically used for pain management.
Women should contact their providers if they experience a fever, lasting dizziness or lightheadedness, cramps lasting more than 48 hours, pain that gets worse instead of better, and foul-smelling vaginal discharge.
Protect Your Health and Safety
Abortion is a serious medical decision, whether you choose drugs or surgery. You deserve to know all the details to make an informed choice.
Additionally, you should protect your health with an ultrasound scan to know how far along you are and verify that your pregnancy is progressing in the uterus with a heartbeat. These details are essential for understanding your options and safeguarding your reproductive health.
Visit Pregnancy Resources Plus today for early pregnancy services, support, and a safe place to process your situation and options.
