Having an abortion can never be an easy decision for any woman. Apart from personal reasons, another one of the reasons could be the concerns about getting pregnant after abortion. We look at what precautions a woman needs to take in getting pregnant after an abortion, how long she should wait and some other factors relating to the issue.
How long to wait after abortion?
The first step is to try and recover physically and emotionally from the abortion before thinking about getting pregnant again. It is important to consult with a doctor who will examine the circumstances and health of a woman to conclude if there is any particular reason, medical or otherwise, to wait for a longer time before getting pregnant.
In most cases the body will usually heal in a few months and the uterine lining will also likely be healthy by then again. Doctors usually ask women to wait about 8 weeks after an abortion to try and conceive again. But while there may be no physical reason not to try to get pregnant again in a few months after an abortion, emotional healing is also important.
As a precaution, it is best to wait for a few months and until a few regular menstrual cycles have gone past before getting pregnant. So a woman should ideally wait after an abortion to have sex until her doctor says it is OK to resume sexual intercourse. And then she should use a reliable form of birth control for a few months before trying to get pregnant.
Could there be complications due to previous abortions?
Usually there are few or no after effects of having had an abortion. Modern medical technology has made abortions safer than ever before and there are usually very few or no complications at all. Women who worry about their fertility can also take comfort from the fact that abortion practiced by a trained and experienced surgeon using proper implements will not compromise fertility. The chances of getting pregnant after abortion are about the same.
However women who have had a problematic abortion or those who have undergone several abortions may have pregnancy complications such as an incompetent cervix. Also in some cases there could be some scarring of the uterus due to multiple abortions, in which case getting pregnant and carrying a pregnancy to term may be more difficult.
However it is possible to overcome problems of an incompetent cervix with the help of a procedure called cerclage. And the scarring is also possible to remove by way of a hysteroscopy.