QuestionI had a surgical abortion 3 weeks ago and im still pregnant, if i decide to continue with the pregnancy can my doctor tell by examination that i had a failed abortion?many thanks
AnswerHi, miriam,
How do you know you are still pregnant? Are you experiencing symptoms, or do you just have a positive pregnancy test?
By all means, continue with the pregnancy. One abortion or attempted abortion is one too many. Abortion is dangerous, and can kill you. Count yourself lucky if all that has happened is you are still pregnant. There are organizations in your area that can help you with this question. They can test you and make sure that your baby is all right. If not, you may have retained parts that need to be removed. But if you are still testing positive for pregnancy, either you have hormones left over, or as you suspect, you are still pregnant. A lot depends on how much of those hormones you have. To find that out, you will need something more sophisticated than a home pregnancy test. They can help you with that.
To find an organization in your area, go here:
http://www.heartbeatinternational.org/worldwide_directory.asp
Choose Ireland from the country list. There are 22 organizations in your area. You should be able to click on "details" and get contact information. Unfortunately, the web site is broken. I have talked to them about it, and they're trying to fix it. But you will have the name and city of each, so you can find out. If you are still having trouble, let me know, and I'll email them and ask them to get me the information.
Now let's talk about the fact you don't want your doctor to know you had a failed abortion. Why don't you want him to know? He NEEDS to know if he is going to care for you well. He's not allowed to tell anyone. It's unethical. If you feel you can't trust your doctor, then talk to the organization and let them recommend a doctor who will take care of you. Your first surgical abortion will probably result in difficulties with pregnancy, no mattter when it occurs. For one thing, the process of opening the cervix forcefully like they do weakens it. It may make it impossible for you to carry a pregnancy to term unless the doctor fastens your cervix shut. If you don't tell him you had a failed abortion, he won't know to do that. For another thing, abortion can cause complications during the birth. The doctor needs to know about it for that reason, too. Attempted abortion of this pregnancy could cause prolonged labor, and that's dangerous for both of you. In the future, your abortion could also cause difficulty with placenta previa. This is when the baby cannot find a good place to implant in the uterus, and ends up implanting too close to the cervix. The result is that the placenta could tear loose during labor, and that threatens the life of both of you. But it can be observed by ultrasound late in pregnancy as far as I know. But the doctor needs to be forewarned to look for it.
Abortion is illegal in Ireland. This is because it is harmful to women and their children. Ireland is one of the few countries that cares enough about its women and children to keep abortion illegal. So I don't know where you are getting an abortion. But people there are well aware that women are getting abortions anyway. So this is nothing new to them.
It is important for you to take care of yourself. Abortion can kill a woman very fast. And the long term consequences are unacceptable. If you are still pregnant and get another abortion, you could be prone to breast cancer in the future. And the fact that you are three weeks further along makes it worse. If you are aborting your first pregnancy, as I suspect, and especially if you have a history of breast cancer in your family, it is just about inevitable. This is a virulent kind that kills 1/4 of the women who get it. If you carry your baby to term, you will avoid this risk. It's not that you won't be prone to breast cancer at all, but that it is much less likely. If you breastfeed, this lowers the risk even further.
Please take care of yourself! Don't take any more risks. Get in touch with your local organization. Let me know what happens.
