21 May Heavy Bleeding During Medical Abortion: How Much Bleeding Is Too Much?
When considering the abortion options, specifically medical abortion, you will want to know the risks. While a side effect of medical abortion includes heavy bleeding, you should be worried about heavy bleeding that soaks two or more pads an hour for two hours in a row. Get medical attention as soon as possible.
Get more information about your pregnancy options, including abortion information, at Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center today. We can help you better understand the risks.
How Does Medical Abortion Work?
There are two different abortion drugs given during a medical abortion (also known as the abortion pill). The first drug, mifepristone, blocks a hormone called progesterone. Without this hormone, the pregnancy will not survive.
The second drug, misoprostol, causes bleeding and contraction-like cramping to expel the pregnancy from the vagina. There are major health risks to consider when considering medical abortion. These risks include the following:
- The body not releasing all pregnancy tissue in the uterus, also called an incomplete abortion. This may require a surgical abortion
- An ongoing pregnancy if the procedure doesn’t work
- Heavy and prolonged bleeding
- Infection
- Fever
- Digestive symptoms such as upset stomach
How Much Bleeding is Too Much?
Heavy bleeding after abortion typically happens several hours after taking the misoprostol. It’s normal to have period-like bleeding for several days afterward and light to moderate bleeding for several weeks.
Heavy bleeding to be concerned about includes bleeding that soaks two or more pads an hour for two hours in a row. Some more warning signs to be alerted of include:
- Bad pain in the stomach area or pelvis.
- Chills or body aches.
- Fast heart rate.
- Fever that lasts more than four hours or that starts in the days after you take misoprostol.
- Foul-smelling vaginal discharge.
If you have heavy bleeding or any of these other signs, get medical care right away to safeguard your health.
Get the Information You Need
Heavy bleeding is only one of the possible risks of a medical abortion. To get more information about abortion risks, visit us at Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center.
We are here to better inform you about your pregnancy options so you can make an empowered choice. You are not alone. Schedule a free appointment today.
*We do not perform or refer for abortion
**All abortion information sourced in this blog is based on accurate information at the time of writing.