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Is It Safe To Use Mifepristone And Misoprostol For Abortion?
Question: I have a friend that has had two abortions with the pills Mifepristone & Misoprostole.. she wants to do it for the third time but it's more than a year. Is it safe to do it again?
Brief Answer:
They can be used after prescription.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
I am Dr Madhuri a consultant gynecologist and will be helping you with the query.
Mifepristone and misoprostol are used to abort pregnancies and are safe. However there are certain guidelines that must be followed before using them.
It is very important to accurately date the pregnancy and determine the exact period of gestation as the drugs work only until 9 weeks and work best before 7 weeks. If used after this then they have a high failure rate. Also they cannot be used in cases of ectopic pregnancy where the pregnancy lies outside the uterus and the use of these drugs can have serious effects in such cases. Also sometimes they can cause an incomplete abortion and such cases need a surgical D and C procedure to complete the abortion process.
Having said that, if the pregnancy is dated well and is confirmed to be located inside the uterus then these drugs are very safe and can be used under the guidance of a registered doctor.
About "if they can be used again after a gap of 1 year": the answer is yes, they can be used. However we always prefer the use of contraception rather than these drugs as all drugs have thier own set of adverse effects.
So she can use these drugs after seeing a gynecologist and getting the dates and location of pregnancy confirmed provided that the pregnancy is less than 9 weeks.
Hope this satisfies your query.
Thanks for using HCM.
Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have.
Dr Madhuri Bagde
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist
They can be used after prescription.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
I am Dr Madhuri a consultant gynecologist and will be helping you with the query.
Mifepristone and misoprostol are used to abort pregnancies and are safe. However there are certain guidelines that must be followed before using them.
It is very important to accurately date the pregnancy and determine the exact period of gestation as the drugs work only until 9 weeks and work best before 7 weeks. If used after this then they have a high failure rate. Also they cannot be used in cases of ectopic pregnancy where the pregnancy lies outside the uterus and the use of these drugs can have serious effects in such cases. Also sometimes they can cause an incomplete abortion and such cases need a surgical D and C procedure to complete the abortion process.
Having said that, if the pregnancy is dated well and is confirmed to be located inside the uterus then these drugs are very safe and can be used under the guidance of a registered doctor.
About "if they can be used again after a gap of 1 year": the answer is yes, they can be used. However we always prefer the use of contraception rather than these drugs as all drugs have thier own set of adverse effects.
So she can use these drugs after seeing a gynecologist and getting the dates and location of pregnancy confirmed provided that the pregnancy is less than 9 weeks.
Hope this satisfies your query.
Thanks for using HCM.
Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have.
Dr Madhuri Bagde
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist
Note: Revert back with your gynae reports to get a clear medical analysis by our expert Gynecologic Oncologist. Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
Answered by
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