Is a medical abortion associated with a lot of bleeding?
Medical abortions are associated with bleeding as this is the hallmark of a miscarriage. There is a small percentage of women who may be very early and therefore bleeding does not occur in the first two weeks after insertion of the misoprostol tablets, and when an ultrasound is done on the patients 7 to 14 day follow up exam, there is no gestational sac present. When a sac has been documented on the first visit but not the second, this is a sign that absorption of the sac has occurred and there will not be any bleeding until the next menses. This first menses is usually heavier and longer. It returns to normal by the second menstrual cycle after termination of the pregnancy. Bleeding with the medical abortion process usually lasts 5 days to 2 weeks. It can be shorter or last as long as 69 days. Bleeding for more than 30 days occurs in less than 1 to 2% of patients.
