WHAT IS "Abortion by Pill"?

Definition of Medical Abortion
A medical abortion is one that is brought about by taking medications that will end a pregnancy by inducing a "miscarriage". The alternative is surgical abortion, which ends a pregnancy by emptying the uterus (or "womb") with special instruments and a vacuum device.
A medical abortion is done without entering the uterus.

Mifeprex, a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for pregnancy termination, can be used for a medical abortion. Mifeprex, a non-invasive early option pill is taken orally and allows you to avoid anesthesia and surgery in most cases. This medication, taken together with another medication, Misoprostol, will end a pregnancy in a high percentage of instances. Termination is accomplished in 95% of the patients who are 7 weeks or less from their last menstrual period.

Determination of Length of Pregnancy
Before any abortion can be done, a medical professional must confirm that a woman is indeed pregnant and determine the length of the pregnancy. The length of a pregnancy is usually measured by the number of days that have passed since the first day of the woman's last menstrual period (abbreviated as LMP) using ultrasound. Medical abortions can be performed as early as a pregnancy can be confirmed. In fact, the shorter the time that a woman has been pregnant, the better the medications will work. Because they do not work as well later in pregnancy, medical abortion is not usually an option after seven weeks (or 49 days) LMP. After that, surgical abortion is the safest and best option.

How the Medications Work
Mifeprex: taken orally blocks a hormone needed to maintain pregnancy. When followed by Misoprostol, Mifeprex ends pregnancy.
Misoprostol: 2 days after taking Mifeprex , a second drug, Misoprostol is taken orally. The Misoprostol causes the uterus to contract and empty its contents. This ends the pregnancy.

This step is repeated on day 4.

How Long Do Medical Abortions Take?
Medical abortion can take anywhere from 3 to 4 days but bleeding and spotting usually last about 9-16 days. Medical Abortion requires two visits to the office. An initial visit and a return visit are required. It is very important since there is no other way to be sure that the abortion has been completed. With the Mifeprex / Misoprostol combination, 95 % of women will abort within 4 days. A small number of women who try medical abortion will need to have a surgical abortion because of heavy bleeding or because the medication does not work for her.

Step 1
A clinician or counselor will explain the process to you and answer all your questions. After reviewing your medical history an ultrasound, blood work, pregnancy test and and a physical exam will be completed. You will read and sign an informed consent. After that the doctor will give you the medication to be taken orally. You may have some initial bleeding after this first medication. Very few women will have a complete termination of their pregnancy before using the second medication.

Step 2
Two days later at home, you will take 4 tablets. Within a few hours you will probably start to have cramping and bleeding. You may pass some blood clots. Pain medication and a heating pad can help with the cramps. You may also have nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, a feeling of being tired of rarely diarrhea. These symptoms usually last a short time and stop on their own. If you soak more than two maxi pads per hour for two hours in a row, you should call us.

Step 3
One day later you will take another 4 Misoprostol tablets.

Step 4
It is very important to come back to the office in two weeks to make sure that the abortion is complete. At that time you will have another pregnancy test and an ultrasound. A small number of women, even if they have had bleeding, may need to use more Misoprostol or wait several more days or rarely, a few weeks for the abortion to be complete. If the pregnancy is continuing, a surgical abortion is required because the medicine can cause birth defects. The doctor or counselor will talk to you about birth control methods to use once your abortion is complete Misoprostol, the medication taken after the Mifeprex, causes the most common side effects of medical abortion. The side effects may include: cramps similar to those with a heavy menstrual period, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and heavy bleeding.

The amount of bleeding that a woman has will be greater with medical abortion than with surgical abortion. Most women have cramps for several hours, and many pass blood clots as they are aborting. In some cases, the blood clots will be larger than the embryo and other tissue from the pregnancy that will also be passed. The embryo will probably not be seen among the blood clots. For example, at 49 days LMP, the size of the embryo will be about one-fifth of an inch. In an earlier pregnancy, it might be much smaller than that. Cramps and bleeding usually begin to ease after the embryonic tissue has been passed, but bleeding may last for a week or more after medical abortion.

Women report that their first regular menstrual period usually occurs 4 to 6 weeks after a medical abortion and may be heavier, or longer, or in some other way different than normal for them. By the second period after the medical abortion, their cycles should be back to normal.

Possible Complications
Medical abortion is irreversible once the Mifeprex has been taken. If the pregnancy is not expelled after using these medications, a suction procedure (surgical abortion) must be done to empty the uterus and complete the abortion. The most common immediate complication of a medical abortion is heavy bleeding. For this reason, a woman must have access to a telephone and transportation in case emergency treatment is needed. In rare cases, a woman will need an emergency D&C (evacuation of the uterus) or a blood transfusion to stop the bleeding. These complications are rare.

There does not appear to be any long-term complication associated with the use of these drugs to induce a medical abortion.

Follow-up Care
Because there is no way to know for sure that the abortion is complete without an examination by a health care professional, keeping appointments with the office for follow-up care is very important! In addition, a woman must report any problems she has during the medical abortion to a health care professional.

 

[return to top]

 
Las Vegas website design company, ConsulTel. Abortion Clinics OnLine abortion clinic directory - gynpages.com ACOL, Abortion Clinics onLine directory of abortion clinics Web development company in Las Vegas, NV - ConsulTel, Inc. Abortion by Pill offered by Princeton Women's Services abortions clinic