Everything You Need To Know About Medical Abortion In India

Medical abortion is legal in India. But how does one avail it? What are the side-effects? Dr. Divya Vora tells Brut.

Transcript

00:00In case of an abortion pill, it's usually a combination of two pills. One which causes

00:16the termination of pregnancy and separation of placenta. The other will cause softening

00:22of the cervix, opening of the passage and increase uterine contractions so that the

00:27abortus is expelled out. Now while there are a number of medicines that can be used for

00:32medical termination of pregnancy, the most commonly used combination is that of mifepristone

00:38and misoprostol. The emergency contraceptive pill and the abortion pills cannot be used

00:43interchangeably. One must never try and get those abortion pills over the counter and

00:49try to induce a medical abortion themselves. It's very unsafe and could be dangerous to

00:54health. According to the MTP Amendment Act of 2021, there are several conditions under

01:05which a woman can safely seek abortion services in India. These are therapeutic or medical

01:13indications in which having the baby may endanger the life of the mother or cause grave injury

01:20to her physical or mental health, where there is substantial risk of the child being born

01:25with a serious physical or mental abnormality, where the pregnancy is a result of sexual

01:31assault, socio-economic reasons such as where a woman already has children and has had an

01:38unplanned pregnancy and does not want the child first, failure of any contraception

01:43irrespective of whether the woman is married or unmarried, and in cases where the woman

01:49is mentally not sound. Those above the age of 18 do not require the consent of anyone

01:54other than their own to get the abortion. In India, abortion services can be available

02:04at various government hospitals, nursing homes and centres that have been approved by the

02:08Directorate of Health Services or by the Chief Medical Officer of the state. The MTP can

02:14be performed only by a registered medical practitioner who has a degree in obstetrics

02:19and gynaecology. Each abortion has to be confidential and has to be reported to the Director of

02:25Health Services. One may experience cramping like pain in the lower abdomen and a moderate

02:35amount of bleeding. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, fatigue may also be experienced

02:41by some people. The absolute contraindications of a medical termination of pregnancy are

02:50such as suspected ectopic pregnancy or when one does not know the location of the pregnancy,

02:56if there's any heart disease, if there's any asthma, if there's chronic kidney disease,

03:02if the person is on long-term corticosteroid therapy, if the person has any drug allergy

03:08or has any blood coagulation disorders or is on anticoagulant therapy. The relative

03:14contraindications of this are heavy smoking, someone who is above the age of 35, obesity

03:20and those suffering from hypertension. For someone who has had an uncomplicated and safe

03:29abortion, the person can resume to work in one to two days and can resume to even strenuous

03:35activities or exercises within one to two weeks. It is advisable not to indulge in any

03:41sexual activity for at least one to two weeks after the abortion and make a decision for

03:46future pregnancies only after discussing with the doctor.