Read Abortion facts including different types of abortions, what are the risks of abortion procedures and what are the physical and psychological effects of Abortion. Abortion is the induced or natural death of a fetus or embryo in the uterus of a pregnant woman resulting in the death of the unborn child. Abortion is carried out medically by women who do not want to get pregnant and give birth to a child in the event of being unmarried, too young, unplanned pregnancy, financial restraints and other such issues that concerns a lot of other responsibilities towards the society.
To avoid or reduce the number of abortions innumerable contraceptive techniques are introduced in the market. However, in many cases the improper use of these protection methods lead to consequent pregnancies that were uncalled for leading to the increasing number of abortions.
There are various types of abortion practiced that are selected accordingly on the basis of the stage of pregnancy prevalent at that particular time. This procedure may involve risks and complications which are explained to the patients beforehand. Complications may vary from patient to patient in the form of incomplete abortion where the procedure requires a repetition, infection caused during the operation and damage caused to the uterine wall. In rare cases the complication worsens and leads to severe cases of pelvic infection and sometimes hemorrhages causing a lot of blood loss.
Types of Abortions :
Following are the types of abortion practiced:
Medical Abortion:
These are non surgical procedures that involve the use of pharmaceutical drugs to terminate growth of the fetus. This method can only be implemented during the first trimester of pregnancy. Abortion pill known as Mifepristone is taken that causes the stop of pregnancy. After 24-72 hrs of intake of Mifeprostine the woman is prescribed Misorprostol that contracts the uterus thus causing the expelling of the tissue from the uterus. With a couple of follow-ups after the administration of these two drugs the patient needs to confirm the abortion with the doctor. In cases of failure of the medical drugs alternative procedures like vacuum or manual aspiration are used.
Vacuum Aspiration:
This is an alternative to the medical abortion procedure also implemented at the first trimester phase of pregnancy i.e. 6-13 weeks. It is a procedure where the uterus is emptied by application of vacuum pressure. The first step in this procedure involves injecting the cervix to induce numbness. It is then followed by insertion of soft flexible tube into the uterus via the cervix. Finally, the other end of the tube that is connected to an aspirating machine applies suction pressure within the uterus thus resulting in removal of the contents of the uterus. The whole procedure takes only a few minutes.
Manual Vacuum Aspiration:
Even before the trimester sets in at a span of just about 4-5 weeks a manual vacuum aspiration procedure can be undertaken to abort the fetus. The device used for this method of abortion is an IPAS syringe. Similar to the vacuum aspiration this device also involves a tube that is inserted into the uterus but instead of using an aspirator the suction is created by manually handheld syringe at the other end of the tube. This is sometimes known as the quiet abortion and takes just about 5 minutes towards completion of the procedure.
Dilate and Evacuate (D&E):
At 13-24 weeks, the D&E procedure is used. The entire procedure takes 2-3 days to complete. Initially an ultrasound is performed to examine the dimensions of the fetus. This is followed by numbing the cervix with injection and inserting dilators into the cervix. This is kept in place overnight allowing it to expand thus opening the entrance to the uterus. The consecutive day the dilator is removed and the cervix is again numbed and finally the doctor evacuates the uterus of the fetus using special instruments. This procedure lasts 10-15 minutes.
When it comes to operational procedures sedation is given to the women in the form of anesthesia. The woman is devoid of consciousness while the process of abortion is undertaken. After the procedure is complete and the patience regains consciousness she is asked to rest for a few hours and is then safely discharged from the hospital.
