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Abortion In India
Pregnancy has always been beautiful and glorified. Every woman, at some point in their lifetime, wants to become a mother. But what if you are not ready for having a child but you have conceived? Legal abortion process needs to be followed for these situations. But the woman or the couple might think about the abortion cost before heading for it.
In this article, you will read about various aspects of Medical and surgical abortion, medical checkups before an abortion, is it safe or not followed by the cost of abortion in different Indian cities. Before that, let’s take a look at few statistics of abortion in India.
A leading daily in India reported that in 2015-16, there have been 34,790 medical and surgical abortions. This data is collated from the various registered medical centers for pregnancy termination. It was a 13% increase from the last year’s data (2014-15).
In rural areas, people are unaware of the abortion procedure, abortion cost and risks associated with it. They often opt for illegal abortion, which is really unhealthy and dangerous. One should always choose the registered medical termination of pregnancies center (MTPs) to have a healthy and safe abortion. The cost of abortion is also quite less in these centers.
What is Abortion?
Abortion referres to the process of terminating or ending pregnancy medically or surgically. It is also known as termination of pregnancy or simply termination.
Every woman has the choice and rights to terminate her pregnancy. It is her body and she knows it better whether she is prepared for having the baby or not. It can be also a mutual decision by the couple if they are not prepared for maintaining a child at that time of life.
If you are looking for advice on termination of pregnancy, you can access non-judgmental and safe advice from doctors. You should discuss the pregnancy termination cost before you chose to abort.
When to contact a Gynaecologist?
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A gynaecologist can rightly advise you how to go about the pregnancy and abortion.
You should always at the first place contact a gynaecologist. Whether you have already conceived or you think that you might conceive and you want to abort the child, immediately contact the gynaecologist. They will do some medical tests and checkups to understand your stage of pregnancy and accordingly advice how to abort the child.
When you visit the doctor, talk to them about the different options you have for abortion. Also, ask them how much does an abortion cost. You can also visit your local fertility clinic for help in this regard.
Suitable time for abortion
Abortion can be risky and life threatening if done at the wrong time. This risk increases with every day of your pregnancy.
- Within 9 weeks of your pregnancy, your doctor might prescribe medicinal abortion.
- Crossed 9 weeks after conceiving, surgical abortion is the only option left for you.
- If you are in your first trimester, then the risk is lesser compared to the risk of abortion in the 2nd trimester.
- During the third trimester, it is not at all advisable to abort as that would endanger the life of the woman.
Medical Checkups and Tests
Before suggesting the right process of abortion for you, the gynaecologist will have to do certain tests and examinations. This is to understand your health condition and if you need any special treatment before or after the abortion. These tests will diagnose the stage of your pregnancy and if there are any complications.
These tests are normal in case of any pregnancy whether you want to continue and have the child or abort. These will include assessing your medical history, various laboratory tests along with physical tests.
Physical tests
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- Measuring the blood pressure and the heart rate.
- Checkups for your heart and lungs to understand if there is any hidden medical condition which might risk the abortion.
- Pelvic region test – to find out the shape and size of the uterus. This helps to understand the phase of your pregnancy or the number of weeks. It also checks the ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Laboratory examinations
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- Urine test can determine whether you are pregnant or not. Missing your periods for a month doesn’t ensure that you are pregnant. A urine test is necessary to ensure pregnancy.
- You also have to undergo blood tests for –
- Determining whether you have anemia or not. If you have anemia then your doctor will prescribe iron tablets for increasing the level of hemoglobin or iron.
- Checking whether your blood type is Rh-negative or not and which blood group you have. If you have Rh-negative, then after abortion, you will be provided with Rh immunoglobulin.
- Determining if you have sexually transmitted disease or any infections. Though it is not compulsory but it helps in understanding the patient’s body well and reduces risk factors.
- If you have certain cervical cell problems, then PAP smear test can help in determining the same.
- Ultrasound is mandatory for various reasons. To check the size and condition of the ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes etc. to ensure the candidate is suitable for having an abortion.
You doctor must inform you about abortion cost including all these tests.
Medical Abortion
Medical abortion is the process of terminating your pregnancy by taking a set of medicines after you have conceived. This is the abortion pills which you have to take twice that is two sets of pills to end the pregnancy. This process of abortion can only be done if you haven’t crossed 9 weeks of your pregnancy.
Medical abortion or pill for abortion is not the same pill you take in the morning after having unprotected sex. These pills need to have a doctor’s prescription.
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Process
It takes two visits to the gynaecologist and the doctor after checking all the reports and prescribe medicines. The first set of medicine you need to have right before the doctor and the second one you can have at home as prescribed.
After taking this medicine, you would have vaginal bleeding which might last for 14 days. After 2 weeks, you need to undergo certain tests to determine the success of the medical abortion. These tests are also for gauging your recovery.
After the medical abortion, you need to visit your gynaecologist frequently to test your reproductive health. It will ensure safety and protection of your body. You should also take care of yourself after having the abortion.
Surgical Abortion
Termination of pregnancy vaginally is known as surgical abortion. It involves removal of the fetus by surgical method. It might involve the application of aesthetics.
There are certain stages of pregnancy and accordingly, the process of surgical abortion varies.
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During the first 12 weeks
During this phase, pregnancy can be terminated with a surgical procedure which is very simple and quick. It involves a suction method to pull out the fetus from the uterus. This is normally done within 5 minutes and requires little or no sedatives/anaesthesia.
It is better to know how much does it cost to get an abortion which involves surgical procedure beforehand. Normally during this phase, the surgical abortion cost will be minimal.
If you are young and this is your first pregnancy, then pregnancy termination cost includes the price of certain medicines. These medicines dilate your cervix. Medicines are given before 2-3 hours of the procedure.
During the 13th to 19th weeks
When you enter your second trimester or 13th week, the complications of abortion increases so does the cost of abortion. Firstly, if you are over 14-15 weeks, you need medicine to make your cervix prepared for the surgical procedure. This medicine is given 3 hours prior to termination of pregnancy.
You can ask the doctor about how much it costs to get an abortion at this phase with aesthetic medicine. If you require anaesthesia, your doctor or nurse will inject it into your body before starting the procedure.
The time required to terminate the pregnancy at this stage is 10-20 minutes but the patient needs to stay at the hospital for a day or two. This is to ensure that the patient is recovering. You should know how much does it cost to get an abortion along with the stay at the hospital before opting for it.
During 19th to 24th weeks
At this stage, the process is though similar to the last one but it involves higher risk. To evade that risk, doctors prepare the cervix from the early morning. The patient is asked to get admitted in the morning itself.
During the afternoon or evening, doctor terminates the pregnancy after providing general anaesthesia. Normally doctors would ask you to have someone to accompany you before and after the procedure.
You will be at the hospital for few days and when the doctor is satisfied with your recovery, they will discharge you. Before admission in hospital, discuss how much does it cost to get an abortion at this stage in detail and also discuss the risk factors.
Abortion Cost
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The pregnancy termination cost varies according to the cities you live in. It is higher in the metropolitan cities and quite reasonable in others. Moreover, it depends on the fertility clinics or the hospitals. The private hospitals will charge more than the government registered ones.
Medical Abortion normally costs around INR 500 to INR 1000. You must check with your local clinics to exactly know about medical abortion cost. The price might increase along with the days of pregnancy as you would require higher dose if you are pregnant for long.
For the surgical procedure, you have to talk to your doctor in details about how much does an abortion cost at his clinic or hospital. It might vary within the range of INR 5000 to INR 10000.
If you stay in Mumbai the prices might be higher than this average cost of abortion. The surgical abortion cost is always higher than the medical abortion. Moreover, it increases with increase in days of pregnancy.
Risks associated with abortion
Abortion is not easy though it seems to be. There are risks like
- Heavy bleeding from the vagina
- Blood clot in the uterus
- Incomplete abortion can be life threatening
- Cervix might be torn or cut.
- Infection in the pelvic area
- Damage to the uterus during the surgical abortion.
- Even the pregnancy termination cost is also a risk for the young women who are not aware of the process.
Terminating a pregnancy is one of the toughest things for any woman in this world.
Always consult your doctor and get all the details about how much does it cost to get an abortion before you prepare yourself for it. Most importantly, prepare yourself emotionally to handle this pressure before you physically prepare for the process.
For quality and affordable Medical services provided by best doctors near you, visit ChooseDoctor.
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