Medical abortion or Abortion Pills in Bangalore explained by the doctor
As the name suggests, medical abortion refers to the abortion procedure with the help of medicines. It is the non-invasive method for terminating early pregnancies.
Medical abortion in Bangalore: Is it your option?
Abortion by abortion pills is the first thing that comes to minds of all women wanting to terminate unplanned pregnancies. But it cannot be effectively availed by all.
How far has your pregnancy progressed?
When did your pregnancy test reveal a positive?
You can calculate your pregnancy period taking your last menstrual period (LMP) as day 1 of pregnancy and its week as the first week.
You may be wondering that the conception most likely occurred after 2 weeks, and still, the initial 2 weeks are also added in the gestation length.
Yes, this is the standard adopted by most of the countries for ascertaining the gestation length.
So, have you calculated your gestation length?
If you are finding any confusion, you can drop a comment with your LMP and our experts will get back to you with the answer.
Now coming to whether you can or cannot take abortion pills, usually if your gestation period lies between 6 – 8 weeks, then, YES, you can get an abortion in Bangalore through the medical method of abortion. But in case your pregnancy has progressed beyond this period, the gynaecologist will not prescribe you abortion pills.
Do not fear surgical abortion methods in such cases. You can conveniently as well as efficiently avail painless surgical abortion in Bangalore.
Most importantly, do NOT resort to self-administer abortion pills without the consultation and prescription from a registered medical practitioner at a Certified MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) Hospital.
Working of abortion pills:
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Oral Mifepristone and Oral misoprostol: The two medicines most commonly recommended as abortion pills also coming together in combi pack as MTP kit are Mifepristone and Misoprostol. These are administered within 6 – 8 weeks from the first day of your last menstrual period.
During an intrauterine pregnancy, the fertilized egg gets implanted in the uterine cavity where it attaches to the uterine lining. This triggers the release of the pregnancy hormone, Progesterone. It is crucial for the growth of the fetus.
The first pill is the Mifepristone which is an anti-progestin. This means that it blocks the action of Progesterone. Upon administration of Mifepristone, the embryo growth stops. The uterine lining starts thinning which does not permit the embryo to stay implanted and growing.
The second pill is the Misoprostol usually administered hours later after Mifepristone, sometimes on the second appointment with the doctor and at other times given to the patient to be taken orally at the mentioned time at home.
The mechanism of action of Misoprostol is that it brings contractions in the uterine cavity. These contractions are strong enough to expel the embryo from the uterus naturally through the vaginal route.
The patient can expect mild to moderate pain and all the contents will get evacuated naturally.
The bleeding may range from moderate to heavy and will eventually decrease and is expected to stop within 7 days of taking the first pill.
However, if spotting or bleeding continues beyond a week, there are chances of incomplete abortion and you are advised to schedule an early appointment with the gynaecologist.
You may be asked to visit the gynaecologist after a week to ascertain that the abortion was complete and this can be done through a pelvic ultrasound.
These two pills are recommended as abortion pills for intrauterine pregnancies and won’t work for ectopic pregnancies. Such emergencies are to be treated differently.
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Oral Mifepristone and Vaginal/Sublingual/Buccal Misoprostol: Just as aforementioned, both medicines work in the same manner with the only change being the route of administration of the second pill, Misoprostol.
In the earlier method, it was administered by the oral route, meaning by mouth to be swallowed. Other routes can be:
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Vaginal: The tablet is inserted in the vagina from where it is absorbed and bring about the contractions. The doctor or the assisting nurse places the tablet carefully by gently inserting the tablet taking complete care to rule out chances of infections.
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Buccal: The tablet is to be placed in the area between cheek and teeth in the mouth from where it slowly dissolves and is absorbed in the blood.
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Sublingual: The tablet is placed under the tongue in the mouth.
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As per some studies, these slowly dissolving tablets are more effective. Moreover, side effects like nausea are lessened.
It is essential to visit a certified abortion clinic in Bangalore:
Though the medical method of abortion is a non-invasive abortion procedure, yet not all medical professionals can prescribe abortion pills.
You can access a safe medical abortion in Bangalore only at a certified Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) centre.
There are certain risks involved with abortion pills which can be avoided beforehand and for them, it becomes essential to consult a healthcare professional.
Before we get into the complications, let’s put some light on to some events that happen in sequence. So, in case of unwanted pregnancies, either you fear the same due to unprotected intercourse or you have been relying on contraceptives, which might have failed.
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The first thing is the missed period. Every woman can expect her periods to be arriving on time with slight changes.
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But if the period is missed for more than 10 days from the expected date, there are chances of conception.
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To check for the same, generally, most women do a simple home urine pregnancy test (UPT) using an easily available UPT kit at pharmacy stores.
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If the UPT reveals a positive pregnancy test result and the pregnancy is unplanned or unwanted, medical abortion by abortion pills comes to mind as the closest option.
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Though abortion pills are indeed the earliest option available for terminating early pregnancies, yet there can be problems that you might not be able to manage and here is which is why you need to consult a gynaecologist in any event of an unwanted pregnancy.
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Coming to the complications that necessitate you visit a certified abortion clinic in Bangalore for terminating an unplanned pregnancy.
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Ectopic Pregnancy: Ectopic pregnancies are faulty pregnancies. For a clear understanding, let us put in some biology into the explanation. After intercourse, sperms travel to the fallopian tube to fertilize an egg released once a month in all women of reproductive age and before menopause.
In case egg has not yet been released, conception does not occur and the menstrual cycle goes on as regular with a regular period the next month. But in the case ovulation has taken place and egg is available, chances of conception increase.
One of the million sperms if fertilizes the egg, it starts growing into an embryo. This embryo travels through the fallopian tube to reach the uterine cavity where it gets implanted to the uterus with the development of placenta and growth of the fetus occurs. This is what happens with normal pregnancies, medically called as intrauterine pregnancy.
Now in case, this embryo fails to reach the uterine cavity rather staying in the middle, like within the fallopian tube, this is a case of ectopic pregnancy. In this case, where it stays in the fallopian tube, the most common type of ectopic pregnancy is known as a tubal pregnancy.
Ectopic pregnancies are rare but need immediate medical attention. So, when your UPT comes positive, you only know that you’re pregnant but not the location of the pregnancy. Location can only be ascertained by scans like pelvic sonography, usually done through a transvaginal scan (TVS).
In these cases, if you self-administer abortion pills or take them from a quack or an uncertified healthcare provider, you are risking your life. This is because, during self-medication, you do not know whether the pregnancy is ectopic or intrauterine. And no diagnostic will conduct this test for you unless prescribed by a registered medical practitioner.
The matter of fact is that abortion pills will not even work in ectopic pregnancies. Bleeding will occur due to Misoprostol which will bring in the uterine contractions. But abortion will not happen. This is because the embryo failed to reach the uterus. Bleeding might put you in thinking that the abortion has taken place while the embryo continues to grow.
In a short span, the fallopian tube will not be able to sustain the growing embryo leading to rupture of the tube. This is presented by syncope and heavy bleeding. This can even be fatal. Immediate medical attention is needed and then through laparoscopic surgery, a part of the fallopian tube will have to be removed. This affects the future fertility and probability of conception decreases.
This is a major complication which can be avoided in the first place by visiting an abortion clinic in Bangalore early enough when you miss your period.
Even if medical termination method is your choice of terminating the unwanted pregnancy, the consultant gynaecologist will first ascertain the exact length of pregnancy and its location. These two are the major contributing factors in deciding whether or not a medical termination is a safe option for you.
Even if the pregnancy is ectopic and is diagnosed early, it can be treated medically using a different set of medicines completely avoiding the complication of a ruptured tube and/or haemorrhage like emergencies.
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Incomplete abortion: As mentioned earlier, the medical method of termination is not 100% efficient. It means not all abortions done by the medical method get completed and surgical procedure is needed to complete the abortion.
When we say, the medical method is prescribed only to terminate early pregnancies, it is so because the size of the embryo is small enough to be easily expelled. Hence, it is recommended only for pregnancies less than 6-8 weeks of length.
If you try to self-administer or take abortion pills from an unprofessional person when your pregnancy term has progressed beyond 6-8 weeks, the efficiency of abortion pills further decreases and the probability of remaining products of gestation increase.
Every woman responds differently to abortion pills and hence there are no criteria to tell which woman will have a complete abortion with pills and who will not. Even if you are early, abortion may be incomplete with the pills.
Eventually, to complete the abortion, a simple surgical abortion method like Dilatation and Evacuation (D & E) will be needed to complete the same for which you will have to visit an abortion clinic.
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Discomfort: Medical method of abortion is known to be the earliest choice but causes some discomfort when compared with other abortion methods.
While a gentle vacuum and aspiration procedure can give confidence to the woman of a complete abortion as she leaves the abortion hospital premises, for a complete abortion to be ascertained after the medical method, it needs at least a couple of days to a week. And it still may not be complete.
Besides, there is zero to mild bleeding with other methods of abortion. Also, they are painless when performed by an experienced gynaecologist with premier facilities, latest equipment as well as under short-acting anaesthetics. Post-abortion pain is either absent or is only mild experienced by a few women.
Whereas, with the medical method of abortion, bleeding ranges from moderate to heavy and pain from mild to moderate to severe (rarely), sometimes needing pain management in certain cases.
Why you may need a medical abortion?
In India, abortion is legal under certain circumstances and you can avail a medical abortion for your specific cases, as can be:
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The pregnancy is unwanted and is a result of contraceptive failure. In this situation, as a part of the reproductive rights of women, any woman above 18 years of age can avail a medical abortion (with other conditions specific to gestation in compliance) with her consent. This can be availed safely, legally and confidentially within a certified abortion hospital Bangalore regardless of the woman’s marital status, etc.
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The ongoing pregnancy may pose a threat to a woman’s physical and/or mental well-being.
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The pregnancy is unplanned.
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Fetal anomalies like absence of heart beat or lack of amniotic fluid are detected.
When is medical abortion not your option:
Medical abortion is not the option for many women owing to varied reasons. But it does not mean that they cannot avail safe, legal and confidential abortion services. They may be prescribed some other procedures to terminate their ongoing pregnancies specific to their medical cases.
Broadly speaking when medical abortion may not be your option, we have listed certain circumstances below. This is also to help you know that in case you are one such woman with any of the following circumstances wanting a medical abortion, it is time to seek medical aid and get the best abortion procedure prescribed at a certified abortion clinic in Bangalore.
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If your pregnancy period has elongated and reached beyond 8 weeks. This is because abortion by pills may lead to an incomplete abortion if resorted to. Infection, fever, discomfort, abdominal pain and prolonged bleeding may further complicate your medical condition.
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If you get pregnant when you have got an Intra-Uterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD) implanted. Most of the pregnancies occurring in women with IUCD are ectopic and their location needs to be ascertained before performing the abortion procedure.
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If you have an ectopic pregnancy as diagnosed by a scan.
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If you are having certain medical conditions and are on medication for the same, for example, blood thinners. This is because abortion pills may be contraindicated or may interact with your ongoing prescribed medicines.
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If you are allergic to any of the abortion pills.
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In case you are suffering from certain medical conditions like that of bleeding disorders, epileptic seizures, severe liver, kidney or lung disease, heart or blood vessel disease.
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If you cannot make multiple visits to the doctor for different pills and also ensure a complete abortion.
** Note: Abortion procedure by Abortion pills is usually done within 1 visit to the doctor.
What to expect during a medical abortion at Bangalore Genesis Hospital (BGH), Bangalore?
Bangalore Genesis Hospital is a premier hospital catering to abortion services for women wanting to safely, legally and confidentially terminate the ongoing pregnancies due to personal or medical reasons.
Here’s what you can expect at BGH during medical abortion:
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You can either call on the helpline number to schedule an appointment to be attended as soon as possible. No large waiting areas will keep your privacy secured.
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On your turn, you will be provided one-to-one consultation with the gynaecologist. A nurse may be present to assist the doctor.
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Your medical history notes will be taken down to prevent complications and minimize risks. You are advised to give complete details about your medical history, co-existing medical conditions, prescribed medications, if any, your blood group, any allergies you might be having, etc.
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The doctor will request certain clinical and diagnostic tests to ensure your health status, your exact gestation period and the location of the pregnancy.
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In case you fit in the criteria for a medical abortion after all the performed tests, which can be done within the same premises with rapid results, same day, you will be prescribed safe abortion pills.
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Your doctor will diagnose the mode of administration and the gap between the pills. First pill will be given to you to be orally taken in the clinic itself.
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You can either be given the second pill to be orally taken at home or asked to visit a day later, as per your convenience.
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You will be advised of the Dos, the Don’ts and the diet plan to follow for the succeeding week for rapid post-abortion recovery.
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You may be asked for a follow-up visit a week later to ensure the complete abortion. In case of any help needed, you will be given a helpline number to speak to your consultant.
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In case you are not fit for medical abortion, you will be advised of your available options and guided how to avail them.
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All your personal details and abortion status will be safe at BGH. Your privacy and confidentiality is guaranteed. You may or may not choose to bring company if you’re an adult. Only your consent is needed for an abortion.
Do not attempt to self-medicate and to speak on our helpline number to speak to a healthcare professional.
You can also WhatsApp us or message us requesting a callback. You are not alone; we are there to help you. Always seek help from a professional for a safe, legal and confidential abortion in Bangalore.
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- 10 important things to know before taking abortion pills in Bangalore
- Gynaecologist for abortion
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- Cost of abortion in Bangalore
- Surgical abortion in Bangalore
