Drug Abortion: Not Simple

The article was consulted professionally by Specialist I Tran Thi Phuong Loan – Obstetrician and Gynecologist – Obstetrics and Gynecology Department – Share99 Phu Quoc International Health Hub

Some people claim that drug abortion is a private and non-invasive method of termination of pregnancy, but it is not as simple as you think. The following are the facts that lie behind the mifepristone drug abortion measure.

Women who choose this new form of "medical abortion" will likely find this regimen easy to implement. The researchers said the physical side effects were acceptable. But it may not be easy to find a doctor who prescribes the drug, a pharmacy that will sell this drug, a hospital that can perform a follow-up medical abortion for you safely..

The process of starting, as with all other methods of abortion, is to consult with a specialist. This is a particularly important part of medical abortion, because the regimen has two parts, using two different drugs. "When you make this decision, you're obliged to follow suit, because you're taking a drug that's going to harm the fetus," said Dr. Kirsten Moore, Director of the Birth Health Technology Project in Washington.

The drug that Dr. Moore is referring to is mifepristone. It does not directly kill the embryo but instead changes the conditions inside the uterus to make it almost impossible for the embryo to grow further. "Mifepristone begins to break down the lining of the uterus so that the embryo begins to separate from the body of the uterus". That left half of the women using the drug with vaginal bleeding, according to Dr. Mitchell Creinin, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Pittsburgh. When taken separately, mifepristone causes miscarriages up to 80%, according to studies. But when taking an additional drug -misoprostol after 2 days, the rate of effect is up to 95% (some researchers think that the actual figure is more than that).

The medical abortion regimen requires the use of these drugs, which has a fairly familiar drug for patients with gastric ulcers mifepristone. While misoprostol protects the gastric mucosa, it also causes damage to the uterus. "It causes contractions of the uterus," Dr. Moore said. "And that's when the patient was bleeding and in pain. … For some, it's like a normal time period, for some others, it's almost a miscarriage."

The Population Council, the New York-based organization that holds a patent on mifepristone, says vaginal bleeding can sometimes last up to three weeks and patients can also suffer from nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. But for most cases, side effects will persist in the short term.

"Within 24 hours of taking misoprostol, nearly 90% of women miscarried," said Vicki Saporta, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the National Abortion Federation.

In any case, the patient must return for a re-examination within 2 weeks to make sure the pregnancy has been terminated, thanks to an ultrasound. Medical abortion is recommended only for pregnancies under 7 weeks – when the embryo is about the size of a marble.

The effect of Mifepristone usually does not exceed 7 weeks of gestation because at this time the placenta begins to secrete progesterone at too high a level so mifepristone does not block. But Dr. Creatinin suggests that there is more data proving the effects of mifepristone on the 9th and even 10th weeks of pregnancy, but with a dose of vaginal misoprostol followed.

The regimen of medical abortion may vary due to a decrease in the number of mifepristone tablets and the oral distance of 2 drugs.

However, there is an unfavorable event that women need to consider when having an abortion with drugs: the possibility that it will not work. This happens in about 5% of cases, according to Saporta, at which point the choice is given as surgical intervention.

Not all women can have an abortion with medication. Patients with a history of diseases such as anemia, apomonarygland disease, lung, liver or kidney disease, coathetydisorders, cardiovascular disease, having had an extra-intravascular pregnancy or glaucoma are not recommended to conduct this method of abortion.

Abortion is undesirable, to ensure your health and maintain the possibility of pregnancy, consult a specialist where the hospital has an obstetrics specialties, find out all the information before making a decision, and prepare yourself well to ensure health safety.

Article reference source: webmd.com