Expert: Pat G - 1/8/2010

Question
Hi Doctor
I was pregnant for 6-7 weeks and i got an abortion like 3 weeks back and i've been bleeding right since then, it was an abortion using a pill..
I had sex with my boyfriend today and it was unprotected, Im scared about getting pregnant again.
What measures can be taken now to prevent that from happening?
Is an emergency contraceptive a good option?

Answer
Hello, Kelly,

Unfortunately, your experience is far too common. There are women in India who are bleeding to death from pill abortions. I recommend that you eat some food with cayenne red hot pepper spices on a regular basis. Some people say this is helpful.

There are several things I'd like to mention that I hope you will find helpful. First of all, the fact that the sex was unprotected isn't really that big an issue, because all of the "protections" that people customarily use don't work very well. It's the fact that you are having sex at all that is putting you at risk. You don't owe it to your boyfriend to take those kinds of risks so he can have pleasure, even if it's something you enjoy yourself, and you should ask yourself if the pleasure is worth being scared like this. You really deserve better.

I sure wouldn't recommend emergency contraceptives. To begin with, they are dangerous in themselves. They are powerful drugs. And since you are still bleeding, there is a really good chance they could just aggravate the problem and make it life-threatening (if it isn't already). And you don't even know if you are facing pregnancy or not. So it might be a totally unnecessary risk. Your hormones are already messed up from the pill abortion, and they need time to straighten out. Later on, when they are more normal, learning to tell when you are fertile would be a good idea. You have to chart faithfully, and you can't be using any hormones (and that's one reason why it would be useless to practice fertility awareness right now). For more information, go here:

http://www.fertilityuk.org/

Since you are still bleeding, it is unlikely you conceived. It normally takes a few days after normal bleeding stops for a woman to ovulate, and it looks to me like your hormones haven't been restored to a semblance of normality. I can't tell you for sure whether you conceived or not, but it would be somewhat unusual. If by any chance you ARE pregnant again, I can point you to some resources that will be helpful.

So please give this some serious thought. Please stop putting your life in danger. Take care, and let me know how you do.