Services
surgical. abortion
Surgical abortion, also known as suction aspiration abortion, can be performed in a one-day procedure if less than 14 weeks have passed since the first day of your last menstrual period. The procedure is done in the doctor’s office with local anesthesia and oral pain-relieving medications.
You will be in a private room during your health education session, exam, procedure and recovery. The entire visit will take around three hours if you are less than 12 weeks pregnant. If you are 12 to 14 weeks pregnant, your visit will last five to six hours. In either case, you will need to arrange for someone to drive you home after the procedure.
Procedure
When you are fully relaxed, the doctor, health educator and/or doctor-in-training, will ask you to undress from the waist down and put on a patient gown. Your support person can be right next to you for the whole procedure.During the procedure, the doctor will:
1. Use a speculum to view inside your vagina
2. Clean your vagina and cervix with gauze soaked in soap
3. Apply numbing medication to your cervix
4. Dilate your cervix, the tight opening to your uterus, with thin metal rods
5. Insert a narrow flexible tube into your uterus
6. Apply gentle suction to the other end of the tube to remove all of the pregnancy tissue
Toward the end of the procedure, you may feel a cramp that feels similar to a menstrual cramp in your uterus, as it is shrinking down to its usual size.
Most of the procedure time is spent preparing your body for the procedure. The suction portion only takes about a minute and the entire procedure takes around 15 to 20 minutes.
abortion pill/ Medical Abortion
What is the abortion pill?
Medication abortion — also called the abortion pill — is a safe and effective way to end an early pregnancy.
How does the abortion pill work?
“Abortion pill” is the common name for using two different medicines to end a pregnancy: mifepristone and misoprostol. First, you take a pill called mifepristone. Pregnancy needs a hormone called progesterone to grow normally. Mifepristone blocks your body’s own progesterone, stopping the pregnancy from growing.
Then you take the second medicine, misoprostol, either right away or up to 48 hours later. This medicine causes cramping and bleeding to empty your uterus. It’s kind of like having a really heavy, crampy period, and the process is very similar to an early miscarriage. If you don’t have any bleeding within 24 hours after taking the second medicine, call us immediately. Our doctor or nurse will give you both medicines at the health center. Our doctor or nurse will give you detailed directions about where, when, and how to take the medicines. You may also get some antibiotics to prevent infection.
How effective is the abortion pill?
The abortion pill is very effective. The effectiveness depends on how far along you are in your pregnancy when you take the medicine.
- For people who are 8 weeks pregnant or less, it works about 94-98 out of 100 times.
- For people who are 8-9 weeks pregnant, it works about 94-96 out of 100 times.
- For people who are 9-10 weeks pregnant, it works about 91-93 out of 100 times. If you’re given an extra dose of medicine, it works about 99 out of 100 times.
- For people who are 10-24 weeks pregnant, it works about 90 out of 100 times. If you’re given an extra dose of medicine, it works about 98 out of 100 times.
