Expert: Pat G - 9/26/2009

Question
I had surgical abortion three days before and I am still bleeding now.  I had been pregnant for 60 days and choose that private clinic because it promised for painless non-hurt operation with thin and soft tubes.  But I was anesthetized when I was operated on and don't get any operation report nor see the abortionist who operated on me.  How to determine they operated on me the way as they promised?  Not with traditional D%26C?  Is there any difference on after-operation wounds?

Answer
Ni hao, Cindy,

To be honest, I can't tell you what they did, especially from here. That said, any kind of abortion is dangerous. You said you had been pregnant for 60 days. Should I assume that was from fertilization? During the first two weeks after a woman's menstrual period, though they are sometimes in the figure, a woman isn't pregnant yet. At 60 days, you were close to 8 weeks, and by that time, the baby is completely formed, though still small. This means a certain amount of force was needed. They also would have had to rip the placenta loose in some way. This by itself would cause injury. There are also other risks, some of them long term. When a woman is pregnant, her cervix is tightly closed, and it must be forced open. No matter what size tube is used, this must be done. This causes injury. The result is that the cervix has many tiny tears, and may not be able to hold the weight of a full term baby in the future. Miscarriage or very early birth are about 4 times more common. Very early birth is a major cause of certain birth defects. An abortion, especially of a first pregnancy, also makes a woman much more susceptible to breast cancer. Scarring is also common, and can lead to complications in a later pregnancy, or inability to conceive at all. It can also cause tubal pregnancy, which is a very dangerous condition. While they may have been "more gentle" on you for the moment, the method used doesn't change some of these risks.

The thing that concerns me about MVA is the difficulty of making sure the equipment is sterile. While some of the newer equipment is supposed to be easier to sterilize, there is really no way that it can be cleaned adequately, that I can see. So another risk is infection. I have no idea how careful these private clinics in China are. I personally wouldn't trust them. If they are willing to do that kind of medical harm in the first place, they have the wrong view of how to preserve a woman's health. Abortion is really contrary to medical ethics.

The other problem is the emotional problems that can happen. These can be significant, and can even lead to the death of the woman within the next year.

Now some of these are just my thoughts, but the long term risks are well known, and they are more significant than the short term.

I'm not sure what you are asking beyond wondering if you will have wounds or scars. If you want any other kind of information, you will have to let me know. I hope this helps. Please take care of yourself.