QuestionQUESTION: Hello, I'm Ana I am from Oregon, USA. On October 27, 2010 I had the surgical abortion procedure in a planned parenthood center, I was 10 weeks, it was done for the health of the baby. I was not taking care of my body. I am trying to conceive again so I began taking prenatal vitamins on October 30, 2010. I know that it is possible to get pregnant after 2 weeks after an abortion and it take 2-3 weeks for your uterus to heal as well as the pregnancy hormones to leave the body. My question is, if it happens that I end up pregnant in that short period, is it safe for my uterus to keep a pregnancy? Is it healthy at all? And since the hormone might still be there how will I know that I have an accurate positive test? Would I have to go to a clinic? Or I do you advice to wait until I have my first period to try again?
ANSWER: Hello, Ana,
I am confused. How does an abortion help the health of a baby?
Planned Parenthood CANNOT be trusted. It is obvious they failed to get your informed consent. This is because if you had known the harm a surgical abortion could do to your future children, it is very unlikely you would have decided to have one. One thing that factors into this is the lack of knowledge that there are people who are willing and eager to adopt and raise a disabled child. They don't tell you that, either. And they obviously didn't tell you that your baby was much more likely to be completely normal than not. A good doctor can help a woman safeguard a baby's health even though she has been abusing her body. If your baby was already 10 weeks, then the likelihood that there were serious problems is considerably less, because most babies with serious problems don't survive that long. There is a gray area where a baby can have a problem that will be a challenge, but the percentage of babies who do is not that high. And they didn't tell you any of this stuff. They were perfectly happy to take your money.
I am going into this, because you are obviously concerned about the health of any new babies you may conceive, and you deserve to know this information.
I will give you an example of what I mean when I say that a baby's health can be safeguarded. I know a boy whose mother took probably every addictive and recreational drug out there. He was born addicted, and went through a few months of hell. Fortunately, he was in the care of a very loving family that endured with him, showering him with unconditional love. He is now in elementary school, and he is COMPLETELY normal. There was no impairment of any kind. And he currently is working his way up the ranks in taekwondo. I haven't kept up with his progress for about a year, but last time I saw him, he had a green belt.
I will give you another example. We adopted a boy who had a serious learning disability. After extensive medical testing in which they could find nothing wrong, we were able to put him on a healing natural diet. We later determined his mother was probably taking either cocaine or marijuana. All of the effects of his problem have been eliminated except that he still shows some signs of learning problems. In spite of how difficult it was to teach him to read to begin with (it just took lots of patience, and he learned to read early, by the way), he now is able to read medical texts. He is now a licensed paramedic, works hard, and is a good father to his son.
What I need to tell you is that your future children are at risk of being harmed by the abortion you have had. You are now at much greater risk of having miscarriages, tubal pregnancy (a threat to your life requiring emergency surgery), and serious birth defects. These include cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, mental retardation, blindness, and deafness. A prior surgical abortion can also cause complications at a time of birth, and may make a Caesarian section necessary. This isn't good for the baby's normal development after birth, has a negative impact on bonding, and is a leading cause of death in childbirth.
So here is what I recommend you do. Do NOT go back to Planned Parenthood for any reason. They cannot be trusted. Find a good doctor, one who knows abortion is unethical and anti-woman. (If you need help finding one, let me know). Ask him your questions. Tell him about your abortion. Ask him to make sure and do whatever medical procedures are necessary to protect your future child. Usually, this means doing a procedure known as cerclage. This is when the cervix is fastened shut so that miscarriage and very early birth are much less likely. In addition, he will watch for placenta previa by ultrasound, so that he knows whether or not you are at risk of hemorrhage during birth and that you must have a Caesarian section. Unfortunately, waiting for your uterus to heal is only the beginning of the story. It is very unlikely your uterus will ever heal completely; you will have scar tissue. I certainly encourage you to give your body time to heal. If you become pregnant anyway during that time, you are much better off not to do anything to end the pregnancy. Your odds of having a healthy child are seriously decreased every time you have an abortion. If you feel you should wait to get pregnant, I recommend that you abstain from sex. Let the doctor tell you how long you should wait. Also, the doctor will need to test you for sexually transmitted diseases. It is quite possible to get an STD from an abortion, because lots of abortionists (those from Planned Parenthood included) do not sterilize their instruments properly, if at all, and have filthy facilities as well. Abortion also increases the likelihood you can get an STD from your partner if you have sex too soon. They may have given you antibiotics to try to prevent infection, but antibiotics only take care of bacteria. Viruses and fungus are not touched. And unless you take a pro-biotic with the antibiotic, you can unbalance your body and have problems for that reason. And a woman can get a silent infection that can prevent conception, such as one that causes pelvic inflammatory disease. And if your partner has ever slept with anyone else, whether he has told you or not, you are at risk. Abortion and contraception increase that risk.
Most prenatal vitamins are a joke, by the way, although it's better to take them than not. But I recommend a woman get some decent NATURAL vitamins, not the stuff that drug stores sell.
As for a pregnancy test, as you are aware, your hormones will take awhile to go back to a pre-pregnant state. I recommend that if you take a chance on pregnancy, you test at three weeks post abortion, and then again at four weeks. The pregnancy test should indicate whether your pregnancy hormones are increasing or decreasing. The likelihood of conceiving within a couple of weeks of an abortion isn't great, but it's not zero.
In addition to all of this, if this was your first pregnancy, your chance of getting a particularly deadly form of breast cancer is greatly increased. To help reduce the chance, take Vitamin D3 (5000IU daily) and get your blood tested periodically to make sure you aren't getting too much. There are also other supplements you can take that will help. Do not get mammograms. They can cause or spread breast cancer. Get a regular thermogram instead.
I hope that you are able to have a healthy baby. Please let me know what happens, and take care, and don't take any more chances with your life and your future children.
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QUESTION: Hi Pat G, thanks for that information. I definitely am not going back to Planned Parenthood ever again. I was not taking any recreational drugs or anything of that kind. I had simply drank wine and liquor not knowing I was pregnant. My question was if I do become pregnant again, is this safe for the baby's health? How long does will it take for me to heal, as in my uterus? Should I wait to conceive, and how long should I wait so I have the chances of a healthy baby?
AnswerHi, Ana,
You're welcome. And thank you for the kind rating.
I don't know how much liquor you were drinking, but if you don't continue to drink throughout pregnancy, you greatly reduce the chance your baby will have problems. As for wine, it has been traditionally drink in places like Europe because the water supply was unsafe, and I am unconvinced there is any real danger to drinking a moderate amount of wine. I think they're making way too much of this.
I guess I didn't explain what I was thinking quite well enough. I think you should find a decent doctor and ask HIM how long you should wait to conceive again. He can examine and test you, and will know how well your body is doing. And any drinking you have done in the past is unlikely to affect your future children. Your doctor will have to treat you more as a high risk patient to protect your future children. It can be done, but some of the damage abortion does is really permanent, so obviously, you will require some better care.
I hope this help. Take care.
