Is there a lot of bleeding with abortion procedures?
The amount of bleeding that occurs during and after an abortion is always a potential concern as sepsis and hemorrhage are common reasons for maternal morbidity and mortality around the world. The number one reason for maternal death in the U.S. is anesthesia complications. With today’s techniques of priming (softening and opening) the cervix, complications that occurred in the past with cervical tears and lacerations, uterine perforations, bowel and bladder injuries, rarely occurs. Laminaria (sterile seaweed) that is inserted into the cervix , and cytotec (misoprostol) are used singularly or together to prime the cervix. This leads to less chance of heavy bleeding and hemorrhage when the abortion procedure is carried out. For patients who are undergoing the medical abortion (abortion pill) procedure, there is less than a .3% chance of having to have a blood transfusion. Heavy bleeding defined as bleeding greater than 2 pads an hour for two hours in a row is rare with medical abortion
