Many women have experienced a reduction in pregnancy symptoms (nausea, swollen breasts, urge to go to the toilet) after a medical abortion or have seen the embryo expelled.
Abortion is a process.
It will take time to empty the uterus and complete the abortion. It is normal for bleeding and tissue removal to last 1 to 3 weeks or longer.
Every woman experiences the medical abortion process differently.
If you have severe pain, ongoing heavy bleeding, abnormal vaginal discharge or fever, these may be signs of complications.
In this case, you should consult a doctor.
You can learn about possible complications here.
If you think there are signs of a complication, you should go to the doctor immediately.
You do not need to tell medical personnel that you are trying to have an abortion.
You can say you had a sudden miscarriage.
Doctors have an obligation to help in any situation.
Because the symptoms will be the same, it is not possible for doctors to detect or test with any evidence that you have had an abortion.
If you have used the drugs vaginally, you should check with your hands to make sure they have dissolved.
Remains of drugs can be found in the vagina up to 4 days after insertion.
You should also see a doctor and have an ultrasound if you have any doubts that the abortion was successful after using the drugs.
What Will We Learn?
Ongoing Pregnancy
Even if you bleed after a medical abortion, your pregnancy may continue.
The occurrence of bleeding does not necessarily mean that the abortion was successful.
If, after a medical abortion, you still feel pregnancy symptoms such as nausea and swollen breasts, you may have an ongoing pregnancy.
To confirm the termination of pregnancy, you should undergo an ultrasound or take a pregnancy test after 3 weeks.
Pregnancy tests to be done before 3 weeks may give misleading and inaccurate positive results due to the presence of hormones in the body.
Ectopic pregnancy
An ectopic pregnancy is a type of pregnancy that develops outside of the uterus, mostly in the fallopian tube.
An ectopic pregnancy carries a life-threatening risk.
Because if pregnancy develops, it can cause the tube to rupture.
This condition should always be treated with medication or surgery.
Medical abortion will not affect a pregnancy outside the womb!
You can make sure that your pregnancy is developing in the womb by going through an ultrasound.
If you use Misoprostol and Mifepristone before going for the ultrasound, you always run the risk of having an undetected ectopic pregnancy.
If you do not have any textured bleeding after using Misoprostol, this may indicate that you have an ectopic pregnancy.
If you have sudden and severe pain in your abdomen and lower back, if you feel tired, if you pass out or if you feel pain in your shoulder area, you may have an ectopic pregnancy and this should be treated immediately.
Ectopic pregnancies are treated everywhere, even in countries where abortion is restricted.
If you have severe pain, prolonged heavy bleeding, abnormal vaginal discharge or fever, this may be a sign of complications and you should see a doctor immediately.
If you have any doubts that the abortion was successful, you should consult a doctor after performing the abortion and undergo an ultrasound after taking the medications.
Many women have experienced a reduction in pregnancy symptoms (nausea, swollen breasts, urge to go to the toilet) after a medical abortion or have seen the embryo expelled.
After the abortion has taken place, you can have an ultrasound to find out if the drugs are working and whether your pregnancy has ended.
An early ultrasound will show you if the pregnancy is over, but it is better to use the ultrasound 10 days after the use of Misoprostol.
Because 23% of abortions can be completed only after 7 days.
A home pregnancy test can be done three weeks after the use of drugs, as the hormones in the body continue to exist until three weeks ago and can give misleading or false results.
It may take days or weeks (up to your period) for your body to completely remove tissue and blood.
Ultrasound shows what is happening in the uterus (womb).
Studies indicate that most of the women who have had medical abortions with protocols including Mifepristone can evaluate whether the abortion has been completed or not.
One of the researchers used data from Mifepristone-Misoprostol clinical trials in China, Cuba, and India and found that “none of the 222 women mistakenly concluded that the abortion was complete when it was incomplete.
10% of women mistakenly thought that although the abortion was completed, it was not yet completed, but this illusion led them to seek professional help even though it was not foreseen
” According to another study that examined women living in the United States: “Women and their clinicians found that they were able, without ultrasound and physical examination, to be able to conclude on the expulsion of the gestational sac during medical abortion with Mifepristone and Misoprostol.”
Incomplete Abortion Symptoms
An incomplete abortion is a partially successful abortion.
The pregnancy is over, meaning the fetus will not develop, but the body has not yet expelled tissue and abortion waste.
Contact your doctor if you have any of the following conditions:
- If you continue to bleed, if you have heavy bleeding (much more than normal menstrual bleeding)
- If you experience persistent abdominal pain or any unbearable pain days after misoprostol use
- If you have a fever
- If there is ongoing bleeding after three weeks
- If there are symptoms such as pain caused by pressing on the abdomen
If you have any of the symptoms mentioned above, you may have an incomplete abortion.
If you have any of these symptoms, you should go to a hospital or doctor.
This is very important because the remaining tissue and blood in the body can cause severe bleeding or infection.
Incomplete abortion treatment is legal everywhere.
In countries where women can be penalized for having an abortion, you don’t need to tell medical personnel that you tried to have an abortion, you could say you had a sudden miscarriage.
There are no tests that will reveal that a woman has had a medical abortion.
It is very important to treat an incomplete abortion.
This treatment is called vacuum aspiration or forced abortion.
Any clinic that can deal with the complications of miscarriage can also help women with an incomplete abortion because the symptoms are the same.
How Long Does a Medical Abortion Take?
Medical abortion can be considered successful when the pregnancy ends and no medical intervention is required afterwards.
Studies show that 99.5% of women who have medical abortions with Mifepristone and Misoprostol in the first 9 weeks of pregnancy terminate the pregnancy.
Only 3% of women required additional medical attention.
In 97% of abortions, women’s bodies were naturally rid of the abortion remnants and did not require additional medical attention.
Abortion is a process.
It will take time for the uterus (womb) to empty and the abortion to complete.
It is normal for bleeding and tissue shedding to last 1 to 3 weeks or longer.
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