Surgical Abortion Options. A few different methods are used in clinics or hospitals to induce abortions. Mifepristone, often known as RU-486, is a prescription medication that may be used for medical abortions early in pregnancy. It can be taken at home. How far along in your pregnancy you are will likely have a significant impact on the sort of abortion you get.
If you’re in your first trimester, vacuum aspiration is probably going to happen to you. You’ll probably have a dilation and evacuation, or D&E if you’re in your second trimester and it has been more than 13 weeks since your last period. In the event that you are farther advanced, you could need a dilation and extraction, or D&X.
Most abortions are performed as outpatient operations, so you won’t need to spend the night in the clinic, hospital, or doctor’s office afterwards.
When you schedule your appointment, your healthcare provider will probably give you some instructions over the phone. Because in-clinic abortions are considered surgeries, you may have to fast starting around midnight the night before your procedure.
You will fill out some paperwork and provide information about your medical history when you first come to the clinic. Next, if your situation calls for it, you’ll have a pre-abortion workup that includes a physical exam, pregnancy test, blood test, screening for sexually transmitted infections, and maybe other tests. An ultrasound is often used by medical professionals to determine how far along you are in your pregnancy and to look for fetal, placental, or uterine abnormalities.
Your doctor will go through all of this information with you during a brief counselling session to assist them to decide which operation is best for you.
Most abortions are done take place in the first 12 to 13 weeks of pregnancy. If you opt for an in-clinic abortion in your first trimester, you’ll have a vacuum aspiration, which you may also hear called a “suction abortion.”
In most cases, your cervix doesn’t need to be prepped or dilated for this procedure. But if you’re more than about 10 to 12 weeks pregnant
If you’re more than 12 weeks pregnant, your provider will use an ultrasound to date your pregnancy. The farther along you are, the more prep work you may have to undergo to prepare your body for the procedure.
While doctors can do vacuum aspirations until about 14 weeks, the most common type of second-trimester abortion is called dilation and evacuation, or D&E.
If you’re having an abortion further along in your pregnancy, you may have to find a specialized, experienced provider to do a dilation and extraction procedure or D&X. This is a procedure that doctors usually reserve for when there is a serious problem with the fetus or medical complications related to the mother.
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