Abortion (in the medical sense) refers to any termination of pregnancy before the 22nd week of pregnancy: this includes spontaneous miscarriage, non-developing pregnancy and termination of pregnancy at the woman’s request.
In Lithuania, it is allowed to terminate pregnancy at the request of a woman up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. A pregnancy lasting less than 6 weeks can be terminated on an outpatient basis within 6-12 weeks. Pregnancy in term is interrupted in outpatient or stationary (stationary) conditions. The pregnancy period is calculated from the first day of the last menstruation.
An outpatient abortion procedure is carried out by suctioning the uterus with a special vacuum pump. This procedure may not require painful dilation of the cervix and general anesthesia. If dilation of the cervix is required, anesthesia is also required. The procedure lasts up to 15 minutes. Before the termination of pregnancy, a woman takes tests (vaginal smear, blood tests). If the blood group of a woman is Rh(-), after the procedure she needs to enter antirhesus immunoglobulin.
Complications after vacuum adsorption are very rare. The most likely are: infection, inflammation of the uterus or appendages, remnants of pregnant tissue in the uterus. In order to avoid infectious and inflammatory complications, it is possible to prescribe prophylactic antibiotics. A woman is recommended to consult a doctor after 1 week. after the procedure, to make sure that the procedure was successful and there were no complications. Sometimes the procedure can be unsuccessful due to the anatomical features of the woman’s body. In this case, it is conducted in stationary conditions.
Medical Termination of Pregnancy
This is an acceptable alternative to surgical termination of pregnancy. The procedure is as safe as surgical termination of pregnancy, but does not require surgery, and the termination of pregnancy occurs in a familiar environment, such as home, so there is usually less stress. Abortion does not increase the risk of infertility, breast cancer or any other type of cancer, and does not affect the physical or mental health of the patient or her future offspring. During the visit to the doctor, the patient is prescribed two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. Misoprostol tablets are taken 24 to 48 hours after mifepristone. The most painful contractions of the uterus and the heaviest bleeding may begin soon after taking misoprostol and last from two to several hours. Usually, both pain and bleeding subside significantly after the embryo leaves the uterus. After 1 to 2 days of taking misoprostol, bleeding significantly decreases to only “spotting”, which may persist for two weeks or, in rare cases, longer. The patient should visit an obstetrician-gynecologist 7-14 days after taking the medication.
Under the right conditions, complications and threats to a woman’s health and fertility usually do not arise after a qualified termination of pregnancy.