Induced abortion is an essential component of women’s health care. Like other health related matters, decisions regarding abortion should be made by female patients in consultation with doctors.
Approximately 21 million women around the world undergo unsafe, illegal abortions each year. Complications from these unsafe procedures account for approximately 13% of all maternal deaths, or nearly 50,000 per year.
At Zoi’s Gynaecology department, every decision regarding a woman’s health, like pre-pregnancy counseling, safety around pre-marital sex, vaccination, Contraception, methods of delivery, laparoscopic surgery, blood transfusions, etc., are done with the utmost importance and care.
And at Zoi, we practice a sound health policy that is based on scientific facts and evidence-based medicine. The best health care is provided when it is free of any external dogma. Our core values involve taking care of the patient-physician relationship. When it comes to abortions, we strictly follow all the rules of our Indian law.
The decision-making is kept personal between the women and their doctor, so it is free from any kind of ideology surrounding abortions.
Women undergoing abortions are entitled to privacy, dignity, respect, and support. The couples or women who come for abortions are taken care of with empathy. We have found that even the male partner goes through the same amount of stress as the lady when they take a decision on terminating an unplanned or unintended pregnancy. All the required support is given by the doctors through personal counseling.
Restrictions and bans are a thing of the past where women and girls were denied direct access to health care. Women are now protected by constitutional rights directed towards the safety and confidentiality of abortions . This ensures:
1) Availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and quality of abortion services.
2) Free and informed decision-making
3) Right to obtain education and full information on abortion.
Many factors necessitate a woman having an abortion. They include, but are not limited to, contraceptive failure, barriers to contraceptive use and access, rape, incest, fetal anomalies, illness during pregnancy, and accidental exposure to dangerous and harmful medications which are detrimental to the fetus’s health.
Pregnancy complications include - sudden painful and accidental separation of the placenta; uncontrollable heavy bleeding from a centrally placed low lying placenta; very high blood pressure resulting in seizures; and cardiac or kidney failure. These may be so severe that abortion is the only measure to save the mother’s life.
When couples or women are not free to take a decision on abortion, women resort to unsafe means to end unwanted pregnancies by self medication with over the counter (OTC) medications, ingestion of dangerous chemicals or plant products.
In times of socio-economic crisis and a breakdown in societal health systems, e.g. due to a pandemic, lack of information and lack of access to health care results in an increased risk of unintended pregnancy. This often results in patients resorting to unsafe abortion procedures or a forced continuation of pregnancy.
Also, women started relying on unqualified medical providers (quacks) to get rid of pregnancy. This adds to the danger to their health and even their lives.
First trimester abortion is safe and can be performed with medication up to 12 weeks. However, this method of termination is proven more successful within 7 weeks of conception. As for the painfulness of medical abortions, it causes slight discomfort and may be a little more than crampy painful periods.
After 7 weeks, the failure rate increases with medication methods and may require surgical evacuation. It is worth trying the medical method first always, as anesthesia can be avoided as well as the cost of surgical intervention. Failure of medical methods may happen as each body reacts differently to medications.
In case the medical method fails, then, the surgical procedure done is called D & C - Dilatation and Curettage.
When comparing the medical and surgical methods, there is the same amount of blood loss. Both methods cause the bleeding to taper off before it completely stops over a period of time.
Abortion from 12 weeks to 20 weeks is done only in certain special cases.
This can also be done medically by inducing abortion with medication. This is more painful than the 1st trimester abortion.
For the above, thorough guidance from a gynecologist is needed and not just any doctor. In the case of medication, a follow up ultrasound is essential to ensure all the products of conception have been expelled from the uterus. Failing to do so can cause prolonged bleeding, infections, and damage over time to the uterus.
This is the check list for you before going for a surgical abortion :
It is important to keep regular track of periods and a high degree of suspicion about being pregnant is required when a period is missed.
You may do a self urine pregnancy test as soon as the period is missed. Especially when periods are irregular, pregnancy tests may not detect pregnancy even after 1 week of a missed period.
At Zoi, we prescribe the safest and most suitable contraceptive methods to all women who are seeking safe sex. You will be guided well to successfully prevent another abortion. It is very much possible, even to avoid getting to a stage where you have to go for an abortion. Contraception and education are key. Women need to be free to talk to their doctor about their needs and various contraceptive methods.
In the case of a missed period, please visit your gynecologist to know the ways to detect an unintended pregnancy very early. The earlier you see the doctor for an abortion, the more time you have to evaluate your choices. Early intervention helps ensure that the abortion process, if that is the choice made, is less painful both physically and emotionally.
Our commitment is that you own your say in the matter of contraception and when you want to conceive, and in the event of an unintended pregnancy, you have all the tools, knowledge, and support to choose to abort or keep the pregnancy. If you are going for an abortion, you are empowered to make the best and safest health choices, retaining your say in the matter of conceiving at the time you are ready.
We offer comprehensive health check-up packages to check the overall functioning of different body systems. Below are more than 15 of the packages that we offer.
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