Expert: Doctor Early Options - 12/1/2011

Question
I have recently had a surgical abortion at planned parenthood. I was only 5 or 6 weeks pregnant and am beginning to be confused and worried about the method they used. They called their 2 options either in-clinic or medical. I did not realize that there was both aspiration or D&C. I asked if my uterus had to be scraped, and they said this is what their doctor does. Now I am worried that I may have uncessarily damaged my uterus because I was only 5 weeks. Other things I have read say not only did my cervix not have to be dilated at such an early gestation, but a silent manual tool could be used other than the machine, and I didnt need the scraping. Why do you think they did these things to me, and should I be worried or upset about it? Should I also be worried about damage to my cervix for future pregnancies?

Answer
You are confusing the methods.  There are three options.  There is the Manual Vacuum aspiration (MVA) and the Electric Vacuum Aspiration (EVA).  Both of these aspiration procedures require the cervix to be dilated to remove the pregnancy and the lining around it.  he Manual Vacuum is new and many doctors are not trained to use it.  You should not be worried about your cervix or upset about it.  Your cervix was not damaged and your uterus will reform the lining.  Even with the MVA, we dilate the cervix to place a tube into the uterus.  With the Medical Abortion we use a medication to dilate the cervix which happens naturally without instrumentation.

Do not worry about future pregnancies.  Before the MVA, all we had was the EVA and D&C, and women were able to have normal pregnancies.  The stories you read really occur when the provider is inexperienced. At Planned Parenthood, doctors are required to be experts.