Make sure you feel fully informed and prepared before having an abortion with pills.
How far along in your pregnancy are you? Research indicates that medication abortion is most often recommended for pregnancies prior to 13 weeks since your last menstrual period. Use the pregnancy calculator to determine how far along you are, since your last menstrual period.
If your last period started on or after:
You can still consider the abortion pill.
If you have an intrauterine contraceptive device in the uterus (e.g. the coil IUD or the progesterone IUD) you must get it removed. IUDs must be removed before taking abortion pills.
If you are living with HIV, just make sure you’re not getting sicker, you’re on antiretroviral medicines, and your health is otherwise good.
if you are concerned about keeping your abortion as private as possible, keep the abortion pill under the tongue instead of vaginally. In the unlikely situation that you have a complication and have to seek medical aid, the tablets may still be visible if used in the vagina. In some countries, you could be reported if pills are found in your vagina.
If you are breastfeeding a baby, the misoprostol pills may cause diarrhea in the baby. To avoid this, breastfeed the baby, take the misoprostol pills, and wait 4 hours before you breastfeed again.
If you have anemia (have low iron in your blood), identify a health care provider who is no more than 30 minutes away that can help if you need it. If you are very anemic, consult a doctor before using abortion pills.
Eat lightly (e.g. crackers or toast may help with nausea).
Having someone with you who can look after you may be helpful.
Drink plenty of water through the whole process.
Consider taking ibuprofen before you use misoprostol to help minimize pain from cramping.
When you use the misoprostol pills, be in an area (like your home) where you have privacy and can lie down for a few hours after you use the pills if you want.
Make a safety plan before using the abortion pills in case you need emergency medical help.
According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a first trimester medical abortion is one of the safest medical procedures. However, you should always be prepared for any possible medical emergency. Consider our questions below to help create your safety plan in case you need it.
You need to be able to get there within 1 hour or less. (If you have anemia, you should be able to get there within 30 minutes.)
Will someone be with you that is able to drive? Will you take a taxi? Public transportation? How much will it cost and will it be available 24 hours? Remember, it is not safe to drive yourself to the hospital during a medical emergency.
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