Surgical Services: What To Expect

A surgical abortion is a surgical procedure requiring no incision or cutting. It is considered minor surgery and is one of the safest medical procedures.

Suction curettage is used to terminate pregnancies up to 13.5 weeks from the last menstrual period (LMP). A dilation and evacuation procedure (D&E) is used to terminate pregnancies from 14 through 22 weeks LMP, subject to viability testing [see Laws section]). These are the safest abortion methods and they do not involve labor.

Suction Curettage
Suction curettage abortion for a first trimester abortion requires only a brief one and one-half hour visit on a day after the pre-abortion visit.The actual abortion procedure takes only a few minutes. However, checking in, making the final payment and recovery time total approximately 60 to 90 minutes.

D&E Patients
The D&E procedure requires two visits to the Center after the pre-abortion visit. The first day, our physician performs a pelvic exam and inserts laminaria, which absorb moisture and expand slowly overnight.

The second day, the laminaria are removed and our physician performs the five to fifteen minute procedure. Some more advanced pregnancies (19 through 22 weeks LMP) occasionally require an additional day of cervical preparation.

Recovery
In recovery, the recovery nurse will provide you with a snack, a heating pad to ease any cramping, and your medications. She will also give you instructions on post abortion care and birth control methods. We encourage our patients to return to us for a follow up examination three weeks following surgery at no charge. We will also provide you an additional month of your contraceptive free of charge.

Our staff love their jobs. They will provide you personalized care and attention.