Expert: Danielle - 5/19/2011

Question
i had an abortion 6weeks ago after they did d and c i went for my 2week check up had to have another d and c went to my sterilization consult had tests ran and now befor my surgery have to have another d and c it will b my 3rd one n 6weeks is it normal to have to have this many and what r the long term effects it will have on my body and why so many

Answer
Hi Stephanie :)

The long term affects, if this procedure is done in a legal setting by a trained medical professional, of this procedure really only show up after multiple, multiple of these procedures, and may manifest in the form of pregnancies msicarrying. However, remember that the process your body goes through with the d&c is similar to what occurs during a miscarriage, and we don't have dire warnings about the long term affects of multiple miscarriages, even when several occur close together.

Your uterus has probably not completely emptied itself of the pregnancy tissue, and thus another procedure is required. You may want to ask about vacuum aspiration, which is the more commonly used method of terminating pregnancies.