However, Dr. Amersi emphasizes that a single surgical abortion is not a key perpetrator: "If you had one procedure, it's not going to impact you, but if you've had multiple procedures, absolutely.
Experts agree it's no harder to get pregnant after having an abortion. It's actually a bit more of the opposite: "You now have proven fertility," explains Dr. Everyone is different and there are many factors to consider when assessing fertility , abortion is just not one of them. Abortion does not affect future pregnancy health. Amersi says when patients who have had an abortion have a miscarriage, they often worry that the two are related. But she assures them it's completely unrelated.
Furthermore, if you decide to become pregnant again after having an abortion, you don't have to worry about facing additional side effects. The signs of pregnancy after abortion do not differ from the typical signs of pregnancy. After any type of pregnancy ends, whether it's a miscarriage or termination, Dr. Amersi tells her patients to wait one cycle before they start trying again.
She also recognizes that having an abortion is a hard decision for patients to make, and she encourages patients to allow themselves to heal not only physically, but also emotionally before they move forward. Amersi assures that psychological distress is a normal part of the healing process.
Her advice is for patients to have compassion for themselves—not judge themselves, lean on a friend for support, and consider mental health assistance, like therapy. If results are positive, call your doctor. After an abortion, doctors generally recommend waiting to have sex for at least one to two weeks to help reduce the risk of infection.
The decision to get pregnant again after an abortion is ultimately a decision you should make with your doctor. In the past, doctors recommended that women should wait at least three months before trying to get pregnant again.
This is no longer the case. Serious complications are uncommon after both medical and surgical abortions, but some issues can occur. Complications are more common with surgical abortions. Possible complications include:. However, some research suggests that abortion procedures can increase your risk of having a preterm birth or a child with a low birth weight.
Studies have been conflicting on these risks, however. One study even found that women who underwent a surgical abortion during the first trimester had a higher risk of miscarriage in their next pregnancy. No causal link has yet been established. The risk may depend on the type of abortion performed. A medical abortion is when a pill is taken in early pregnancy to abort the fetus.
One study found that a medical abortion carried no increased risk of:. A surgical abortion is when the fetus is removed using suction and a sharp, spoon-shaped tool called a curet. This type of abortion is also called dilation and curettage D and C.
In rare cases, a surgical abortion can cause scarring to the uterine wall Asherman syndrome. Scarring might make it more difficult to get pregnant in the future. It may also increase the chances of miscarriage and stillbirth. Any abortion procedure not carried out by a doctor is considered unsafe and can lead to immediate complications as well as later problems with fertility and overall health. Pregnancy tests look for a high level of a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin hCG.
It can take anywhere from 16 days up to 2 months for hCG levels in the body to fall below the levels detected by a pregnancy test. They can provide a blood-based pregnancy test instead of using an over-the-counter OTC pregnancy test.
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