Expert: Pat G - 7/10/2009

Question
QUESTION:  I had an abortion on the 10th of june 2009.The pregnancy was two and a half months old. I have been looking forwrd to my menses since then but i have still not seen it. I did not bleed after the abortion and i havent seen my menses too. Am i alright? What do i have to do? I am very worried.

ANSWER: Hello, princess,

This is just about the time you would have a period if you were in a normal cycle. However, abortion disrupts all of that. It disrupts a woman's delicately balanced hormones. Abortion also causes a lot of other kinds of damage. It's not safe, nor is it normal, so afterward, at least for awhile, there is no such thing as "normal". So you can't have any expectations at this point. I also don't know why you didn't bleed. What kind of abortion did you have? That would tell me a lot. You will probably have to be patient for awhile. If at the end of a couple more weeks, you are not satisfied, please see a doctor.

Also watch out for very heavy bleeding. If it goes on more than a couple of days, see a doctor urgently. Don't go to the person who provided the abortion.

If you took just a cheap pill, such as Cytotec, you may still be pregnant. So at some point, if you have access to a pregnancy test, you should probably take one.

If you need any kind of help, here is a place where you can find an organization in your area that will help you:

http://www.heartbeatinternational.org/worldwide_directory.asp

Choose Ghana from the country list. There are seven organizations. Click on details to see how to get in touch with them.

Good luck, and let me know how you do. Also, if you had a different kind of abortion, let me know that, too.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION:  Thank you so much for your help. The truth is that i dont know what type of abortion was carried out because i was injected and i slept till after the abortion. So what do i do now. Please i want to know the next step i should take. Thanks

ANSWER: Hi again, princess,

You're very welcome!

Because it happened while you were asleep, you had a surgical abortion of some kind. I'm wondering if they even really did anything to you. You might want to test for pregnancy again. If it turns out they didn't do anything to you, consider yourself lucky. Don't try to do anything about it. It's too dangerous, and you are now in the second trimester, and it is much more dangerous now. It isn't worth it. There are just too many things that can go wrong. An abortion can kill you, make it impossible for you to have a normal pregnancy in the future, make you prone to breast cancer (if this is your first pregnancy and you have breast cancer in your family, it makes it a near certainty), cause you to suffer a violent death in the year after the abortion, and many other problems. Again, if you get in touch with an organization in your area, they can help you with any problems you face. There are better answers. Please take care of yourself, and stay safe!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Once again, thank you very much. Pls can i have a direct address to any organization that can help me here in Ghana? I cant find my way through the net.And also how long do i ve to wait before going to see a doctor concerning my problem?

Answer
Hi, princess,

My internet connection will go down for several hours soon. This is the information I was able to get. I couldn't get phone numbers for most, or addresses for any; their database is messed up. But I'm giving you what I have. I'll tell them they need to fix their database. Good luck with this, and I'll respond again later when my connection is good again. Take care.

Destiny Changers International (Ghana)     Accra          GHANA  00233 21 24 624 2984    
Heartbeat Ghana Ministries    Accra          GHANA     
International Hope Centre for Women    Accra          GHANA     
POWERAID    Accra          GHANA     
Life Centre of Ghana    Adum Kumasi          GHANA     
Life International Center of Ghana    Adum-Kumasi         1914    GHANA     
Fordjour's Counseling Center    Mamprobi-Accra          GHANA