QuestionI had partial birth abortion 7 weekes ago still have no period (due to fetal anomalities). There was no complications and I had bleeding/spotting for about 3 weekes after the procedure. I tried to see my ob/gyn but they only can see me after my first normal period. Please help. I'm 29 y.o. and wanna try for another baby soon. Want to make sure its normal. Thank you.
AnswerHello, IrinaRose,
I am so sorry to hear what happened to you. Are you aware that partial birth abortion is illegal in the United States?
Let's look at the facts you have given to me. They told you that you had a baby with abnormalities. How do you know that their statement was accurate? Tests are sometimes wrong. Now you have a doctor who refuses to see you until you have a period. What kind of doctor is that? Is this the person who performed this ILLEGAL procedure on you?
As for your prospects, they had a duty to warn you that you are MORE likely to have a baby with a birth defect than you would have been if you hadn't done anything. Obviously, in your case, IF the tests were correct, it was a 100% possibility of having a child with a birth defect, but the fact they did an abortion on you at least doubles your risk of having a baby with a birth defect in the future. In most cases, the chance is about five times what it was before. Here's why. To begin with, they had to dilate your cervix. Normally for this purpose and this late in pregnancy, they use laminaria. Laminaria is a seaweed that expands when it absorbs moisture. It causes damage to the cervix, and it can cause infection. Once they did that, if they did do the illegal procedure, they had you go into labor, and then before the baby was born, they turned the baby's body so the feet came first. This is dangerous for the mother, and hopefully, they didn't damage your uterus doing this.
The most common reason for doing an abortion for a birth defect is Down Syndrome. I have to tell you this is ridiculous, for these reasons: first, having a child with Down Syndrome, while very challenging, is also very rewarding. I understand why people don't feel they have the ability to raise the child and give him or her what is needed to become educated, for example. These days, there are many early intervention programs to help the child with Down Syndrome develop more "normally" and when it comes time for school (at 3 years), the Montessori educational method is particularly effective wit them. Since I have a nephew with Down Syndrome, I know quite a bit about this, so feel free to ask questions. Also, if a woman feels she cannot raise a child with Down Syndrome, there are many couples who have applied to adopt such a child. If I were younger, I would have done this as well. Having learned what I know about Down Syndrome, I can tell you that people with DS do think differently. But they can learn their academic subjects quite well, if given the proper setting. My nephew had the language development of a 5 year old when he was only 3 1/2. If you had a child with a different problem, I have less expertise, but I do know something of some of the other problems. If they advised abortion because the baby wouldn't live long, that's ridiculous, because you have a right to enjoy your baby for the time you do have together. Obviously, a second trimester abortion is very expensive, so they made plenty of money.
I'm telling you all this because you will probably find it out eventually anyway, and I want to be here for you if you find this disturbing, and need to talk.
Now to get to your immediate question. Since you bled for 3 weeks, and it has only been 4 weeks since then, it is not surprising your period has been delayed. Normally a woman has a delayed period after giving birth, and you DID give birth. So I don't find it surprising.
As for having a baby soon and hoping for the best, you DO have an increased risk of having a baby with a birth defect BECAUSE you had an abortion. You will need to tell your doctor during a future pregnancy of your history: that you had an abortion. He may need to take some steps to protect the new baby. For one thing, the damage such an abortion causes to the cervix makes it weak. It may be unable to carry a full term baby because of the weight. Normally, when this is threatened, the doctor does something called cerclage. This is a method of fastening the cervix shut until time for birth. In some cases, it makes a Caesarian section necessary. If the cervix is NOT fastened shut, you may have a miscarriage, or a very early birth. Very early birth is a major cause of some fairly serious birth defects, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, mental retardation, blindness, and deafness. So it is critical that the doctor does everything he can to make sure you carry the baby past that point. If you developed an infection from the laminaria, you may not be able to conceive at all. There are other possible problems, but this will give you an idea of what you may be up against. I can't tell you that you WILL have these problems. You have simply increased the odds that you will. So you need to go to a decent doctor and have him check you out thoroughly, to make sure that you are ready to conceive again. Also, you should learn to tell when you are fertile, so that you don't conceive until your body is ready. You have to chart faithfully, and you can't be using hormones. For more information, please go to this web site:
http://www.fertilityuk.org/
The person who did the abortion on you has committed malpractice, and has committed a crime. He also had the duty to obtain your informed consent, and clearly, he did not do this. DO NOT GO BACK TO HIM! Find a doctor you can trust. Probably the easiest way to do this is to find an organization in your area that helps pregnant women, and gives post-abortion counseling. They have doctors affiliated with them. They can recommend somebody. To find one near you, please go to this web site:
http://www.optionline.org/
I wish you all the best. You may well need to talk more after this, and I will be here for you. Please let me know how things go. Take care.
