Are you considering abortion for your unplanned pregnancy? If so, you need to realize abortion is a serious medical decision. 

It’s important to learn the side effects and risks associated with both medical and surgical abortion. You need to recognize the signs of an incomplete abortion if it should happen.

The Types Of Abortion

There are two main types of abortion, medical and surgical. A medical abortion (the abortion pill) uses drugs to end your pregnancy. This method can only be used if you’ve been pregnant for 10 weeks or less. 

An incomplete abortion is at the top of the list by the Mayo Clinic for complications from medical abortion. You have a greater risk of incomplete abortion with the medical method vs. surgical.

During a surgical abortion, the doctor uses a vacuum to suction out the pregnancy. Depending on how far along you are, the doctor could also use surgical instruments to scrape or pull out pregnancy tissue.

The doctor needs to thoroughly examine all of the tissue to make sure everything is removed from the uterus.

How Can You Have An Incomplete Abortion?

Terminating a pregnancy by abortion means all parts of the pregnancy must be removed from the uterus. If any pregnancy tissue remains inside your body, you would have an incomplete abortion.

If not taken care of quickly, an incomplete abortion can lead to long-term medical issues like infection, infertility, or even death.

What Are The Signs Of An Incomplete Abortion?

According to the University of Michigan Health, symptoms of complications include:

  • Severe bleeding

While there will be bleeding with both medical and surgical abortion procedures, severe bleeding includes:

  • Passing clots that are bigger than a golf ball, lasting 2 hours or more
  • Soaking more than 2 large pads in an hour, for 2 hours in a row
  • Bleeding heavily for 12 hours in a row
  • Infection

Signs throughout your whole body like headache, muscle aches, dizziness, or a general feeling of illness.

  • Severe pain in the abdomen
  • Hot flashes or a fever of 100.4° F or higher that lasts longer than 4 hours
  • Vomiting
  • Foul-smelling vaginal discharge
  • Swelling or rapid heart rate

Before Your Abortion

Before you make your decision, come to A Hope Center. We’ll confirm your pregnancy test result with free, medical-grade pregnancy testing administered by a licensed medical professional.

If you receive a positive pregnancy test from us, your next step is to have a free limited obstetrical ultrasound. You’ll find out how long you’ve been pregnant, and if the pregnancy is still growing or you’ve had a natural miscarriage.

We also recommend getting STD testing at the same time. We offer free and confidential STD testing at A Hope Center. 

Are you questioning if you want to go through with an abortion? Need someone to talk to? Our center is a safe, private, and peaceful location to share your fears and ask questions. Contact us or just come on in. We’re here for you.