THE TWO METHODS OF VOLUNTARILY TERMINATING PREGNANCY - PARENTHOOD

Voluntary termination of pregnancy

Surgical method

The medical-surgical intervention must be performed within 14 weeks, starting from the first day of the last menstruation. Where is it? Of course in the hospital or in a doctor's office. It may happen that, to make the operation easier, the patient is advised to take prostaglandin, a drug that helps relax the neck of the uterus, the day before or the same day. The latter, in fact, will be dilated up to a diameter ranging from 6 to 12 mm to allow a cannula to enter and aspirate the embryonic tissues. The patient, of course, will face everything under general or local anesthesia.
The operation will last about 20 minutes and it will be possible to return home, depending on the case, between the following 2 and 8 hours or the next day if hospitalization is foreseen. A check-up visit is then scheduled within a couple of hours.
This is a widespread practice in Italy:

Pharmacological method

The pharmacological abortion must be prescribed within the 7th week, starting from the first day of the last menstruation. It is a procedure that takes place in several phases and which, unlike what one might think, requires hospitalization. In the first phase the patient takes Mifepristone (better known as Ru486), which blocks the activity of progesterone (a hormone that allows both the implantation and the continuation of the pregnancy in the first weeks), thus causing an internal abortion. precision after 48 hours, the second drug is used. The latter is part of the prostaglandin family and causes the expulsion of embryonic tissues through the contraction of the uterus and consequent haemorrhage.
The patient will remain under observation for a few hours and will undergo a check-up after about two weeks.

Here you can find all the Italian centers where RU486 can be found

Side effects

Neither abortion procedure is painless, so ask your doctor to prescribe adequate pain relievers. Other secondary effects are blood loss, greater in the second case, but also a sense of nausea. The pharmacological method can also cause diarrhea.

Risks

In the two interventions, the repercussions, at least on a physical level, are minimal. Indeed, it does not even increase the risk of not being able to have more children. The situation is different from a psychological point of view, which can occur in both cases.

Better surgical or pharmacological?

We are talking about two equally effective and safe methods, so usually the doctor does not tend to recommend one rather than the other, unless the clinical picture of the woman requires it. What makes the difference is instead the timing with which a woman arrives at this. difficult choice: those who decide immediately will undergo the drug interruption, while those who need more time will inevitably end up resorting to the surgical one.