Expert: Pat G - 7/1/2011

Question
QUESTION: As i was 40 days perganent & I have taken Mifepristone orally on 15th June and on 16th june abodaminal pain was started & on 17th June i have taken 4 tablets of Misoportal vaginally after 5 hours bleeding was started with stomuch pain & fever, motions & i have taken paracitumal Tablet next day everything is normal no fever nothing clots & bleeding and it is continued till 6 days  & stopped on 7th day is there any chance to anything left inside ? how it confirmed it is compelete abortion? when can go for pregnacy test to get accurate result kindly advice on priroity i cant go for ultrsound scan as it is illegal in india"

ANSWER: Hello, sujji,

I wanted to think about your question for awhile.  There is no way anybody can tell you over the internet whether the abortion was complete or not. Taking Misoprostol vaginally is VERY DANGEROUS, and unfortunately, this is what the pharmaceutical company recommends. I have tried to talk about this to them, and they don't care. About 10,000 women die from abortion in India, every year.

It may take several weeks before a pregnancy test shows normal. You will simply have to be patient. It would be VERY wise to go to the doctor. Regardless of whether abortion is illegal, you need to know that there are no complications. It is a question of whether you value your life enough to take the chance of talking to a doctor about it.

Reducing your fever is not necessarily a good idea. Fever is one of the things that helps restore health and combat infection. In fact, if a woman gets an infection from taking Misoprostol vaginally, she probably won't run a fever. And that is a warning that the infection could easily kill her within hours. Fever is the body fighting back. You need to let it fight back.

You didn't say if you counted the days of your pregnancy from your last menstrual period, or from the probable date you conceived. I can't tell you, without that information, whether you took the medication too late.

So you really need to go see a doctor. If you ask around, you can probably get a recommendation for a doctor who won't report you. Good luck. Please let me know what happens.

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

QUESTION: As i counted from my last  menstrual period as it is May 4th & i have conceived on may 25th i am unmarried as my date is on june 4th but it is not happen i have through pregancy test after 7 days & it is positive please tell is to late to take the medication or not? just i want wait for few days & check with preganacy test after that i want visit to doctor kindly advice as of now i am feeling everything normal please need ur reply on priroity

ANSWER: Hello, sujji,

According to my calculations, it is unlikely that taking pills would work at this point. Here's why. Normally, the pills work reliably only between 4 and 6 weeks from a woman's last menstrual period. Prior to 4 weeks, it is too early, because the baby hasn't implanted yet. After 6 weeks, the baby is making his or her own progesterone. The pills work by cutting off the mother's supply of progesterone, to the baby. You have had 3 weeks since your last menstrual period, up to the point when you say you conceived. That would be an exceptionally long period anyway. Since May 25th, it has been another five weeks. Adding together, that's eight weeks total. So you are well past the point where cutting off the mother's progesterone to the baby would make any difference. If you were to take the pills now, you might bleed to death, and you might experience a lot of pain, but it would be uncommon for the pills to do anything else.

You certainly shouldn't consider taking the pills in any case, unless you have pregnancy confirmed.

But it is really NOT wise to try to use the pills for abortion. They are much more likely to threaten your life, and you may require expensive medical care to save your life. It's simply not worth it, and you deserve better.

It would be good to look at your situation and find out why you want to have an abortion. There is almost certainly a better answer. Let me know what is troubling you, and let's talk about it. Please stay safe. Don't threaten your life.

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

QUESTION: when can i go for pregnancy test kindly advice ? thanka for responding to my mails awaiting for your reply

Answer
Hello, sujji,

Thank you for the kind rating, and you're welcome.

That is a tough question to answer for a couple of reasons. One is that each woman is different, and one woman's body will respond differently than a different woman's body. Another is that it depends partly on whether your abortion was successful. Here is what I recommend. Get a pregnancy test whenever it is convenient for you to do so. Then get another one in a week. If the hormones are stronger, you are still pregnant. If they are weaker, then you are probably no longer pregnant. I don't know how easily you can get a test, or whether it will be expensive, but this is one of the better ways to see what is going on.

You mentioned that you are unmarried. I assume this is why you decided to have an abortion. There are organizations in India that can help you with better answers, although there are not many, and I no longer have access to the information of where they are. However, there is one place in central India where you can stay until your baby is born, assuming you are still pregnant. You should ask in various churches, and see who knows about it. Then if you are not in a position to raise a child, you can put him or her up for adoption. Adoption is a difficult choice, but better in the long run than having an abortion. There are people waiting who would like to adopt, so that is not a problem.

I hope this helps.