Expert: Pat G - 8/29/2009

Question
I had intercourse 2 weeks after having an abortion.  Since then, I've started bleeding again. At first the blood was brownish spotting but recently it's been more fluid and bright red. I was also experiencing painful urination, but that has lessened somewhat.  At first, I thought it was a yeast infection as I am prone to those but now I'm wondering if it's something else. I have started taking an antibiotic. To be honest, I'm embarrassed to admit to my clinic that I had sex before I was supposed to after the abortion.  Is there any chance my symptoms are normal and not a result of infection?

Answer
Hello, Jenae,

Most likely, having intercourse started up the bleeding. Intercourse causes a woman's uterus to contract. Also, you may have had an injury, and the intercourse aggravated it. Fluid, bright red blood is fresh blood. You didn't say what kind of abortion you had, or how far along you were. That could have a bearing. The painful urination could have a number of different causes. Does your urine smell normal? Don't be embarrassed to tell the clinic that you had sex before you were supposed to. Don't go back there. It's unlikely that you will get a straight answer from them anyway, because they won't want to admit it if they injured you. But let's suppose you had a surgical abortion. They had to cut away the placenta. That right there will cause injury.

I would imagine you don't want to wind up having another abortion. Having sex under the circumstances is unwise for several reasons. One is that it may cause another pregnancy. Another is that since your uterus is raw and open to the outside (because of the bleeding, it has to be), you can contract an infection very easily. Some infections can't be cured with an antibiotic. Some sexually transmitted diseases come to mind.

I don't know if you are married to your partner or not. If not, I highly recommend you re-examine your risky lifestyle. Also, don't count on "protection". Condoms don't work, and neither does pulling out. If you are married, obviously, you will want to resume intercourse at some point. Refrain for the time they recommended, and then don't have sex until the bleeding stops completely. If you aren't taking any hormones, you can learn to tell when you are fertile. You have to chart faithfully. For more information, go here:

http://www.fertilityuk.org/

But your partner, whether you are married to him or not, owes it to you to protect you and not let you take these kinds of chances. You deserve better. Abortion is dangerous, and it can cause you to be more prone to breast cancer, and difficulties when you want to have a child, including miscarriage, injury to the child (such as cerebral palsy), and difficulty with birth.

If you had a pill abortion, you can still have problems with breast cancer. Also, it hasn't been in use long enough to know what the other long term problems may be. And it's common for a woman who has had a pill abortion to start bleeding again. Regardless of the reason for the bleeding, if you start to bleed a lot, you may be in trouble. A good way to deal with it is to get some cayenne (hot red pepper) either in your food or by capsule. If you start to hemorrhage, have someone take you to the emergency room.

Let me know how you do. Please take care of yourself and stay safe!