Today I had a surgical abortion with only local anaesthetic only at 6+4. I am writing this post to help anyone searching for honest experiences.
To preface this, I was booked for the procedure with sedation, but unfortunately when in clinic I could only have the local.
I was seen at BPAS who were all fantastic and cannot fault them. The procedure itself was very short, less than 15 minutes. After being take into surgery, I was given a local anaesthetic into my cervix which felt like a short sting. The vacuum aspiration is then carried out shortly after. For me, this was incredibly painful, others I have heard have felt it was just like period cramps. It’s short lived and over in less than two minutes but as I say for me, this was much worse than period pain.
I then went into shock and had extreme pain after the procedure. This was all managed very well by the nurses and they were fantastic with me. If you can, my advice is have the sedation and not opt for just a local.
If you are due to go though this I am happy to answer any questions you have and as I say some women have had much less pain than I experienced.