An abortion consultation generally covers a lot of ground, from learning how far along the pregnancy is, which treatment options are available, what the procedure involves, what recovery is likely to look like, to whether you have any medical considerations to keep in mind. When dealing with so much information in a short span of time, it’s easy to forget to ask about the things that matter most to you. As such, it’s best to go into these consultations with a bit of homework. With that in mind, let’s go through some of the most important questions you should try to ask during your abortion consultation to get a better grasp of both the process and your body.
How far along is your pregnancy?
When you first walk in for an abortion consultation, both you and your doctor will have this question at the top of the list. The reason is that every abortion-related decision that you take stems from this one question. The number of weeks into the pregnancy is key in helping the doctors determine which abortion methods are the best for you, if you need an ultrasound, and how your treatment is to be planned from here on out. This is generally calculated using the first day of your last menstrual period and, if needed, with an ultrasound scan. Though you might have it at 5 days or so, it’s actually good to ask them exactly how they arrived at their estimate and whether it changes your available options.
What are your abortion options?
Once your pregnancy has been dated, your doctor will most likely explain every option that is available at your disposal rather than recommending just one route. There will be two main pathways going forward, with their own subcategories. You will be offered either a medical abortion, which uses medication to end the pregnancy, or a surgical abortion, which is carried out as a procedure in the clinic and comes in different types. Ask why one option is recommended over another for your specific case, if at all. If both are available, then inquire about the advantages and drawbacks of each in plain English to find out which one works best for you.
Medical abortion is generally recommended for pregnancies that are less than 10 weeks old, while the latter is offered to people over that limit. Something you should know about surgical abortion is that it is actually available for everyone from the get-go as well. It’s simply a matter of preference: if you’d like to go through the abortion in a method that feels more natural or go through a procedure quickly and sometimes more effectively. Either way, both of these methods are safe and simple enough processes when provided through regulated healthcare services. The only difference comes in the timing when the abortion happens, pain management, and what the experience feels like. More on that later.
If you’re looking to go through the process at clinics like The Gynae Centre, a private abortion clinic in London, UK, you can also discuss the price of going through the abortion as well as how quickly the treatment can be arranged. This includes asking whether consultations, scans, medications, and follow-up care are included in packages rather than offered separately, and whether there is flexibility to get treatment as soon as possible.
How long will the abortion process take?
These abortion consultations don’t finish with a single appointment, and what most people don’t realise is just how much time they need to take out of their life to dedicate to this process. Ask what the full timeline looks like from consultation to recovery.
Depending on your choice of abortion, you may have your consultation plus receive medication the same day, return for a procedure a few weeks later, and recover at home in between. If it is a surgical abortion, it will follow a similar pattern, only that the process will be entirely carried out at the clinic. It’s also useful to know how long you’ll be at the clinic, when you can return to work, when driving is safe again, and whether you need someone to accompany you during any part of this process.
What side effects should you expect with each abortion option?
With a medical abortion, some bleeding and cramping are to be expected because that’s just how the medications involved work. Some people also experience nausea, diarrhoea, and chills, which are temporary. For a surgical abortion, on the other hand, bleeding is not going to be as prevalent, though cramping is still going to happen for a few days.
Another thing you should also remember is that, rather than simply asking, “Will it hurt?” it is best to focus on more practical questions: What level of pain is considered normal? Which painkillers can you take? At what point does bleeding become excessive? When should you call the clinic if something appears wrong? When should you wait things out? Questions like these will give the doctors a much easier time explaining the smaller details of the abortion process. The answers that come will also be far more reassuring than knowing that complications can and may happen.
Can you give details of the abortion in private?
Confidentiality is one of the big asks for any patient seeking abortion. From a doctor’s perspective, it is actually better that people ask them directly about all this than to learn about it in any unpleasant way later on. As such, ask about the people that will have access to your records, whether your GP will be informed, how your results or prescriptions will be communicated, whether your family will be informed, and whether phone calls, medication packages (in case of telemedicine) or letters can be handled as discreetly as possible. If someone else helped you book the appointment or you are worried about family members seeing correspondence, you should also raise that concern as soon as you begin the consultation. Clinics are proficient in dealing with such situations and will be more than happy to help you in protecting your privacy during this process.
What kind of support can you expect from the clinic?
Although most clinics will explain what happens after an abortion on their own, you should still walk in with certain questions around this as well. Ask whether there is a telephone helpline if you have concerns at home; what follow-up care is included; who you should contact outside clinic hours; whether emotional support or counselling is available if you need it. You should also ask about future fertility, as it’s something many people worry about unnecessarily without ever looking more into it. Technically speaking, when performed safely by qualified professionals, any abortion will not affect your ability to become pregnant in the future.
Don’t fret over how it looks
The point is that you shouldn’t worry too much about looking uninformed or trying to get the wording as perfect as possible. Once you’re in the consultation room, the only thing that matters is that you discuss your needs with your doctor and leave understanding your options, knowing what will happen next, and feeling comfortable in the care plan. A consultation, after all, should answer your questions and not create new ones.
