Being at home is as safe as at the hospital when a medical abortion after twelve weeks of pregnancy is initiated. When starting at home, day patient care is usually sufficient, and women are satisfied with the treatment, a study shows. In the case of medical abortion up to and including the tenth week of pregnancy, the procedure used is a so-called home abortion.
At ten to twelve weeks, day patient care is most commonly used, while medical abortion after twelve weeks of pregnancy may have a longer course requiring an overnight stay in hospital. The current study, published in The Lancet and led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Karolinska Institutet, included 457 women in Sweden who were planning to have a medical abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The aim was to investigate the need for hospitalization if treatment was started at home.
About half of the participants were randomly assigned to take the first dose of the abortion medicine misoprostol at home in the morning, two hours before admission to the gynecological hospital ward. Others were randomized to follow the usual healthcare routine and take the first dose after arrival on the ward. Benefits in the home group The researchers measured how many people suffered a complication or needed surgical intervention in connection with the abortion.
Participants' pain was assessed repeatedly during treatment, and specific satisfaction surveys were also conducted. The results show that 71% of those who initi.