Clinics and hospitals currently defer medication abortion until ultrasound confirms a pregnancy inside the uterus. However, a large international study led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet now indicates that treatment can be equally effective and safe even before the sixth week of pregnancy. The study is published in The New England Journal of Medicine .
35,550 abortions took place in Sweden in 2023, over 60 per cent of them before the end of the seventh week of pregnancy. Often, the procedure is held off until intrauterine pregnancy is confirmed by vaginal ultrasound to rule out the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy, in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tubes. An ectopic pregnancy is not terminated by a medication abortion and can be life-threatening for the woman.
Ultrasound reveals a pregnancy in week five to six. Women often find out very early if they're pregnant, and a majority also know if they want a termination and if so, want it to take place as quickly as possible. Observational studies have produced contradictory results as regards effectiveness, so we wanted to study if very early abortion is just as effective and safe as waiting.
" Karin Brandell, study's first author, gynecologist at Karolinska University Hospital and doctoral student at the Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Women from nine countries The VEMA (Very early medical abortion) study included over 1,500 women at 2.