Medical or surgical abortion

[Flowerteapot]

Hello

I’ve chosen to go ahead with an abortion , this is not the right time for me to have another child . My daughter is 6 months old and the father does not want to be a part of this child’s life . I had HG my last pregnancy and already beginning to be sick . I’m 6 weeks and 2 days pregnant .

I’m looking for advice and or stories on either abortion .

I’m petrified of drugs I have awful anxiety and The thought of a surgical termination petrifies me . My instant thought is to be sedated and do that and it will be over quickly but I’m panicking what if I’m allergic to it or what if something happens to me whilst sedated what if it doesn’t work ?

The medical abortion seems the easiest way but long and I don’t want to go through hours of contractions or even see this baby . I don’t want to be in pain for a whole day when I can just go through the procedure and it be done within the hour and me hardly remember it .

I have friends who are being supportive etc but I’ve looking mostly for anyone who’s been through any of these terminations and can offer me some suggestions on what will be best for me . Thanks

Also how quickly does the sickness go after each termination ? Thanks

Hi OP, sorry you're in this situation. Recently I had a medical termination at just over 6 weeks. I'd recommend you call marie stopes to book asap, as sooner will be easier especially if you're feeling sick.

I chose medical as it was the recommended option at under 10 weeks. I didnt want anyone doing anything surgical on me, just my personal preference. They did a scan and consent forms, then gave me a tablet to swallow and four tiny tablets for me to insert vaginally. Then I was driven home and a few hours later started to bleed. It was like a very heavy period, it got lighter as time progressed. I took paracetamol for pain, it was ok. Passing the pregnancy tissue was ok, you dont have to look as you will probably be on the WC as the bleeding is quite heavy at that point, I just felt some big clots pass and didnt inspect anything. I was very scared before but it was actually ok, I felt comfortable being at home. A few weeks later and I feel fine physically.

Hi

Can I ask do you have contractions or not ? I’ve had the first appointment I just need to book in treatment and I just don’t know which one to go ahead with . I’m petrified either way. I don’t want to be sat at home and bleed so heavily and be alone and I feel that way It will hurt more mentally rather than physically whereas to have the surgical I think it will Be over quickly and not have so much to remember and over think about

Medical isn't anything worse than heavy period pain. You don't feel contractions as such, just some mild/moderate cramping. You feel the passing off the clots, and you really shouldn't see anything either.

If you're already really traumatised at the thought ask for the surgical option. Your in all day but get home around 4 o'clock.

Sickness goes straight away.

I hope your okay OP. ❤️

@flowerteapot it feels like period pain, nothing like giving birth, I only had paracetamol. I was very frightened too but it was ok, like a heavy period. You could ask a friend or your partner to be with you after. I was driven home by my friend, I sent him home after a few hours as I just wanted to rest and watch tv .

Don’t read stories online about them as apparently a lot of the horror stories are written by anti abortion protesters trying to scare women out of having it done.

I’ve had both. I found medical better and I was able to take all 4 tablets on the same day with BPAS. I then went home and nothing happened for about 6 hours until I got what felt exactly like bad period pains. I went to the toilet and felt what felt like a period clot drop into the toilet which I flushed away without looking. After that I had heavy bleeding (no heavier than the 1st day of my period) for about 48 hours and then very light bleeding for about another week.

The surgical one I found far more painful afterwards and had heavy bleeding for about 4-6 weeks. Everyone is different though so I might have just been unlucky with it.

I worked myself into such a state about the medical one as read so many awful stories online of people collapsing in agony and feeling very sick etc. I have had periods more painful than what I experienced.

Good luck x

From recent experience of a medical abortion, I'd be sceptical of the "its just like a heavy period". It may be for you, but it wasn't for me. It was a full day of excruciating and inescapable pain. I literally wanted to jump out of the window I was in so much pain and I couldn't relieve it. I really wished I'd gone for the surgical option but wanted to get it all over quickly and that would have involved making a second appointment to come back, whereas with the medical option I could do it the same or next day. I appreciate that for some people (most?) it's simple, but I really found it awful, and wished that people hadn't made it out to be so easy.

Im sorry that you're in this position. I had a medical at 6+4,
4 weeks ago. I saw nothing that was upsetting. I too am scared of the surgical route incase it goes wrong. It was just like a heavy period . Wasnt too painful , nothing that couldn't be sorted with paracetamol. The bleeding was light for me after 2 days. Bled for no longer than a week. Hope this helps

I went for a medical abortion on the 4th July. I was 6+1, went home and after a few hours medium cramps came on and then bleeding. Not much though. I thought that was over with but over the next few days the pregnancy symptoms just kept getting stronger. I went back to Marie Stopes for a scan and the abortion has failed. I'm booked in for surgical tomorrow.

I am gutted that the medical failed, not only have I had to suffer for an extra 2 weeks but it's also extra childcare to find and then you start to doubt all your decisions again. I can't wait to feel normal again.

Thanks everyone . I feel I may just go the medical way , this means I would get an appointment faster I’m just panicking as the nurse said I’d be sat on the toilet for a long while bleeding with contraction pains that are on the scale half of labour ??? I just think really how did I get myself into this position because I was using birth control and i know this is right for me but the thought of taking one tablet and then having to wait a whole day to have the other 4 makes me think what am I going to be thinking within them 24 hours am I going to be happy it’s nearly over or am I going to be genuinely sad at what I’ve done.

I know no one else can answer that as it’s in my own mind but I just feel awful for what I’m doing and I don’t know how to make myself realise that it’s the best decision and in reality I cannot bring another child into this world in this way

Is anyone able to tell me , do they regret or think about their decision or is it just that it’s right for yourself and yes it’s a horrible thing but its the right thing

I was able to take all the pills at once when I went for mine and then go straight home. Some clinics do it differently though

I do not regret my desicion as it is genuinely what I wanted to do. Of course it's not a nice thing to do. I am not exactly shouting it from the rooftops, but I am surprised with how well I have handled it. They say everybody reacts differently but I can tell you from my experience the cramps are nothing like contractions. They are just like period cramps. I phoned them after 2 days because I was concerned with how light it was. I thought it would be a lot worse but they told me at 6 weeks I wouldn't bleed as much as say a woman who was 8 weeks gone

I haven't had a termination but I had a missed miscarriage at around 8 weeks and had to take the same type of pills to get going.
I definitely had contractions so be prepared just in case, get some nurofen plus or whatever works for you.
I also had way more bleeding than just a heavy period, at the worst points I stuffed a baby nappy in my knickers as I kept flooding.
Once everything passed, the pain stopped and just bleeding remained.
It wasn't unbearable but it was quite painful and lasted a couple of hours.
I'm hope I haven't scared you with that info but I always think it's better to be informed. I know whenever I'm going through something I like to hear both good and bad experiences.

I opted for the medical at approx 6 weeks gestation as really I didn’t want to have an anaesthetic. Unfortunately for me it didn’t work immediately and I then started bleeding very heavily 4 days afterwards. I was admitted to a&e and ended up having a surgical as well to remove everything left (most of it had passed by that point but the doctor though he might as well remove everything to be sure as I’d had a previous womb infection). The surgical was absolutely fine, no probs with anaesthetic, it was actually quite a nice experience. They look after you, and it was a real relief knowing it was all over. The benefit of surgical is that generally you know it’s all done with, and there’s probably less discomfort. However even when I passed the pregnancy 4 days after the medical it was no worse than period pains and the chance of it not working at 1st is quite small. I decided on my abortion because I have 2dc, one is a young baby, and we can’t afford another. It was also a contraceptive failure. I just knew I couldn’t cope with another child in any way. You have nothing to feel guilty about op. You know what’s right for you and your existing child. I have felt nothing but relief since that I had the legal and safe option to end this pregnancy. Good luck with whichever you decide.

I had surgical termination at 7 weeks it was painless and took 10 mins with no pain relief. You insert a pessary the night before. Afterwards you have period type pains for 2-3 days. Best wishes whatever you choose

OP I dont regret my abortion, the circumstances were too hard for me to have another child, it was unplanned and the dad pretty much abandoned me. I find it sad and it wasnt a fun experience, but it was the least worse decision. At the time i think hormones made me feel much more emotional about it all.

I had all the tablets at once, Marie Stopes said it has 95% success rate taking them all at once. The success rate is higher if you take them a day apart but I was in the 95% who had no problems. Good luck with your decision 💐

I've had both.
In my opinion the medical was horrific for me. I took the pills and about 15mins later I had contraction type pains for around 3hrs which I was on the floor with, once it was passed the pain did subside alotttt. I was 8+4.
My surgical one was completely different. The whole procedure took around 15mins. I had a light sedation , woke up very emotional! But it's normal I was told. I didn't actually bleed until 4 days later for around a week which was like a normal period

I've had a surgical termination and have no regrets at all. It wasn't the right time for me and I was not mentally affected by the procedure at all. The surgical option was right for me - I've had surgery before and knew that it was nothing to fear. The whole thing was over in about 15 minutes - when I woke up I had a cup of tea and went for a walk with some other ladies who were in there. Went home and started back to my normal life again. Very little residual bleeding, maybe one day. Best wishes to you, in whatever you choose to do.

I have the surgical, plus at the same time they fitted a coil in place too. I was in pain for the rest of the day, and couldn't drive for the day or the next, but I did drive the night after as I felt absolutely fine. Go to your gp, and they'll give advice in more detail. Everyone's different and do not feel like you have to explain yourself at all. ♥