Medical and Surgical Abortion
Medical abortion - A medical abortion involves medication, rather than surgery, to terminate your pregnancy.
Medical abortion isn't an option if you:
- Are too far along in the pregnancy.
- Have a pregnancy outside of the uterus (ectopic pregnancy).
- Have a blood clotting disorder or significant anemia.
- Have chronic adrenal failure.
- Use long-term corticosteroids.
- Have an intrauterine device (IUD).
- Have an allergy to the medications used.
- Do not have access to emergency care.
Surgical abortion - As the name suggests, a surgical abortion involves surgery to terminate a pregnancy. There are two types of surgical abortion: aspiration and dilation and evacuation (D&E).
Dilation and curettage (D&C) is a surgical procedure wherein the cervix of a woman is subjected to dilation and scraping of the uterine lining is done using a special instrument (curette, spoon-shaped instrument).
Reasons for Opting D&C
- To remove tissues growing in the uterus after an abortion or miscarriage
- To remove leftover pieces of placenta after delivery so as to prevent heavy bleeding or infection
- To diagnose and treat abnormal bleeding – D&C can be done to diagnose or treat endometriosis, hormonal imbalances, unwanted growths including polyps and fibroids, or uterine cancer. A tissue lining the uterus is collected and examined under a microscope for detection of abnormal cells.
- It is done as a part of infertility investigation