Post-Abortion Care: What to Expect and When to Seek Help

Question
Hello,
i was one 3 weeks pregnant and i started taking cytotec without asking a doctor. because we are living in an retarded Gulf country who can sew a woman who is pregnant without marriage. So, i kept on swallowing cytotec 2 tablets each 4 hours for 10 days. but nothing happened. no bleeding. Always pain with cramps and breast aches. Then after losing hope, i put 4 tablets in my vagina for 2 days and the third day i swallowed 4 tablets in once. and then i got that HEAVY bleeding. i felt like i lost all my blood. Now after 4 days, im still bleeing but not that heavy like the first day. could it be the baby is still inside after all this unusual heavy bleeding? Do u think i am still pregnant? coz the home pregnancy test is still positive. or i'm just scared? the breast ache is gone. but still got cramps. please help me because i cannot visit a doctor unless i have a marriage certificate with the husband's ID. it is awful beleive me. i need help. how can i be sure that i lost the baby? and if i really had a medical abortion, do i have to take antibiotics after that?
i beleive in your advise. thank you for your time and ur help. and pls do i need a cleaning operation after the abortion?????

Answer
Did you pass any clots while you were bleeding - say, the size of a small grape? That would be a good sign. Even if not, you were still quite early in the pregnancy so the heavy bleeding almost definitely took care of the pregnancy. I don't think you are pregnant any more.

Yes, please take antibiotics immediately. Be sure to complete one whole dose of it. You can ask a doctor to give you antibiotics for another reason entirely (maybe say you have a bacterial infection?) or you could directly go to a chemist and ask them for instructions. Just make sure you finish the whole course. Antibiotics should not be left incomplete.

Your bleeding will probably continue for a few more days, but it should stop within about 10 days. Your next period is completely unpredictable. It can be 4 weeks after the abortion to 12 weeks after the abortion, or anytime inbetween. No way to predict this. Your cycle will also be irregular for 4-5 months now, so you can expect early periods, late periods, heavy periods, light periods, spotty periods or even missed periods. Nothing to worry about. Sometimes you may feel some pregnancy-like symptoms, like tender breasts, morning sickness, food cravings, etc. This is also normal, it is caused by the leftover hormones in your body. As long as you take care to use contraception every single time you have sex, you will be safe from pregnancy.

Now, you cannot have sex, or allow anything to enter your vagina, for at least two weeks after your abortion. Otherwise there is a high risk of infection. You can take showers, but do not take baths or go swimming, because this may allow water to enter your vagina. No douches, no tampons (use sanitary pads). It is possible to get pregnant again just two weeks after an abortion, so if you have sex, use contraception all the time.

There is no "cleaning operation" necessary. All you need to do now is watch out for any fever (more than 100 degrees F) or vomiting more than twice in the first few days after your miscarriage. If you get a fever or vomiting, then this may be a sign that you have an infection. You really will need to go to a doctor for this. Maybe you can travel to a neighbouring country, or ask to see a "friendly" doctor? In most countries that ban abortions, there will be "friendly" doctors who are willing to help you out... You should try asking your friends to ask their friends, maybe somebody will know.

Let me know if you have more questions.