An unplanned pregnancy brings about lots of anxiety and feelings of overwhelm. Many women turn to abortion after finding out about an unplanned pregnancy. Before an abortion it’s important that you schedule a medical screening to do the following:
- Confirm your pregnant by pregnancy test. At YCR we offer medical grade pregnancy tests.
- Have an ultrasound performed to:
- To determine the location of the pregnancy
- The first thing that we look for in our limited obstetric ultrasounds is to confirm the location of the pregnancy. The pregnancy should be IN the uterus. If the embryo were to attach outside of the uterus it would be called an ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies can be in the fallopian tubes, the ovaries, or even the cervix and are extremely dangerous to the woman and can be life-threatening if not detected. Performing an ultrasound is the only way to determine the location of the pregnancy and to ensure that the pregnancy is not ectopic. This is important because an abortion pill will not end an ectopic pregnancy.
- To determine viability-
- Another reason for having an ultrasound completed prior to abortion is to determine if the pregnancy is viable. That is, does the embryo have a heartbeat? 10-20% of early pregnancies may end in miscarriage. Determining if your pregnancy is viable can help you avoid unnecessary costs and potentially high-risk and/or painful procedures that you may not need.
- To date the pregnancy-
- It is very important to know how far along you are to determine the type of abortion that you can receive. The type of abortion changes after 11 weeks from a medical abortion (the abortion pill) to a surgical abortion to end the pregnancy. Basing the decision on LMP (last menstrual period) alone is not the best determinant of this because not all women have regular cycles and can ovulate at different points within that cycle. Outside factors such as stress, birth control, and sleep deprivation can even alter when you ovulate. This could mean that you are further along or earlier than you think. The best way to clarify this is through an ultrasound where we can get a more definite measurement.
STI Testing:
- Having an abortion while infected with an STD can potentially cause the infection to spread to other parts of your body, leading to sepsis and septic shock. An untreated STD can also lead to PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease). PID increases your risk of ectopic pregnancy.
At YCR we offer:
- Free Medical Grade Pregnancy Tests
- Free STD/STI testing for women for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea
- Free limited obstetrical ultrasound to confirm pregnancy and viability.
- Comprehensive abortion education
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