Every woman has the right to do with her body whatever she thinks is the best. It’s a highly personal choice, and not a single woman should have been judged. Sometimes, there is no other choice, or she is not ready to have a baby yet, so she decides on abortion. No matter if it’s a surgical or medical procedure, one question still remains- how it will affect the future pregnancy?
Will Abortion Affect Your Fertility?
Source: medicalnewstoday.com
If you are considering an abortion, or if you already had that procedure and now you’re ready to start a family, this question is surely concerning you.
Nowadays, complications during surgical abortion are extremely rare. Still, it is a much more complicated procedure than medical abortion, and it’s done in the first trimester of pregnancy. The main difference between surgical and medical abortion is that medical abortion can be done in the early stages of pregnancy. Taking two doses of medications called mifepristone and misoprostol causes an effect similar to a miscarriage. Chances for serious infections or damaging organs that might affect your fertility are quite low. Most women who had an abortion won’t experience any difficulties and complications in the next pregnancy. There is also a fact that the number of illegal abortions in non-sterile conditions was enormously higher a few decades ago when women had nowhere else to go. The situation changed, and abortion is legal in most countries, but one of the ways of preventing complications is going to the nearest abortion clinic.
How Soon After Abortion Can You Concieve?
Even though some say differently, pregnancy after abortion is more than possible. After the surgical abortion, your body will need some rest and time for recovery. Doctors say that you can get back to work within two days if you feel ready, but any other physical activity should wait for a few weeks. Still, no matter the type of abortion, bleeding and cramping can last up to six weeks. Irregular spotting might occur even if you think it’s finally over. After that period, you can have sex whenever you feel physically and emotionally ready. As we said, having an abortion is not going to raise the chances of complications like miscarriage, uterine scarring, and fertility problems. Having an abortion in the certificated clinic in sterile conditions with professional doctors is entirely safe. After the complete recovery, you should be able to have a normal pregnancy and birth. On the other side, if you are not sure you want a baby right away, discuss birth control methods right after an abortion.
How Abortion Affects Your Period?
Source: southavewomensservices.com
An abortion will basically restart your menstrual cycle. Typically, the menstrual cycle lasts for about 28 days. This means that ovulation, when the egg is released from the ovary, happens between 14 and 28 days of the cycle. Most women can expect ovulation in the following weeks after the procedure. It’s not the rule, but after having a surgical abortion, the next period might be lighter or shorter than usual because your uterus is emptied, and there is less tissue that needs to be expelled. If you’ve had a medical abortion, bleeding can be increased in the next few periods. We can only advise you to change your pads regularly and to maintain great hygiene because of the possible infections. Avoiding cups and tampons might be hard, but longer pads are a better solution while recovering. After three to four periods your body will get back to normal. Also, there are some specific cases when women naturally have shorter menstrual cycles, and when the exact time can vary. Having that in mind, sometimes ovulation can happen an only couple of days after the procedure, which means that unprotected sex can lead to pregnancy even if they haven’t got their period yet.
Recovery
Source: medicalnewstoday.com
As we mentioned in the text above, abortion is a type of shock to your organism. This significant decision can not only affect your body, but it can play with your emotions too. When talking about physical recovery, resting for a few days would be great, even if you are feeling great. Women who had a surgical abortion might experience dizziness and nausea the next day, so it would be great to invite someone to help. Those are usually consequences of bleeding and anaesthesia. Having someone by your side is useful so you can always say how you really feel. Keeping every emotion to yourself could lead to Post-abortion stress syndrome (PASS). It’s more than real, and it involves emotions like grief, sadness, anxiety, and in extreme cases depression. Women who suffered from this syndrome say that they felt completely alone and guilty. Unfortunately, abortion can remain trauma and cause certain feelings at the anniversary months of the procedure as well as flashbacks. If you notice that you are becoming antisocial, sleep a lot and avoid going out with your friends, it can be an early indicator that you need help. Opening to someone about your feelings might be a way of prevention. If you don’t have support at home, from your friends and family, almost every abortion clinic has a psychologist that is ready to listen and help you get through that.
Should You Wait?
We can understand that patience isn’t helping at the moment, especially if you want to get pregnant right away but doctors advise you to wait at least two weeks. Other than that, there are no physical problems that might stop you. Still, taking a pregnancy test should wait for 6-8 weeks, because of the beta hCG hormone levels. This pregnancy hormone that increases day by day while pregnancy develops should be lower to zero. Taking a test before that can result in a false positive test because there is still some hCG left in your body. If more than eight weeks have passed, and you get a positive pregnancy test, but you are sure that you are not pregnant again, visit your doctor at the aastrawomenscenter.com.
