Expert: Doctor Early Options - 11/7/2009

Question
I had a surgical abortion 2mths ago, and was given antibiotics to prevent an infection. I took this for the prescribed 7 days whilst starting to take the pill again to prevent any further unplanned pregnancys. I had unprotected sex 3 weeks after the abortion and I had a light period that started the next day. This is now the following month I havent had unprotected sex since but my periods late. Is it possible Im pregnant?

Answer
Dear Mia,
There may be several reasons for a delayed period after a surgical abortion.  From what I can tell, you started on birth control pills within a week of the surgical abortion.   Birth control pills started within a week of an abortion should be effective immediately, and you should not have gotten pregnant when you had unprotected sex two weeks later.  That said, it is possible.  The easiest thing to do would be to check a urine pregnancy test.  By now it should come out negative from the initial pregnancy.

The more likely reasons for a delayed period are 1) that it is common and normal to have missed or delayed periods after abortion.  I've seen it take up to 3 months.  2) Birth control pills often cause a missed or delayed period, especially after an abortion.  As long as your pregnancy test turns out negative, there is nothing to worry about, and your period should come back to normal.

There is more information about bleeding after abortion on my website: http://www.earlyabortionoptions.com

I hope this is helpful,
Doctor Joan