Even under the best of circumstances, most women face some amount of discomfort and anxiety that comes from terminating a pregnancy. Knowing what to expect is half the battle in avoiding anxiety and discomfort. Early abortion using vacuum aspiration is a safe and simple procedure. Choosing a conscientious clinic can make the difference between a humiliating and alienating experience, and a supportive and non-judgmental experience. Feminist clinics have pioneered the delivery of outpatient abortion care. Whenever possible find a woman-run clinic in your area or a clinic that practices the abortion methods described here.

This abortion procedure now used in many clinics is the safest and least traumatic available. The three main steps involved are: 1) an injection, to numb the cervix, 2) the insertion of a small flexible plastic cannula (sterile tube) through the natural opening to the uterus (the cervix), and 3) removal of the pregnancy by suction, which is created by an aspiration machine. The actual suction part of the procedure normally takes about two to three minutes.

Abortion with Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA)
The MVA procedure is the same as abortion by vacuum aspiration with the advantage of using a hand held syringe instead of an aspiration machine. Women don’t have to hear the sound of the machine and there is usually less discomfort as the pregnancy is being removed. The MVA procedure also takes a few minutes to completely remove the contents of the uterus. At Women’s Health Specialists, our physicians are trained in this quieter technique. Unfortunately, many physicians in other clinics do not do this procedure because they have not been trained to use this method, making MVA a unique procedure at Women's Health Specialists.

At Women's Health Specialists, we use MVA for women in early stages of the first trimester of pregnancy. In the early first trimester of pregnancy, women can choose the MVA or "the abortion pill". MVA is a surgical aspiration (suction) method abortion, provided in a safe clinic setting. With MVA, the procedure is like a first trimester procedure described above. An injection to numb the cervix is used, and a small sterile tube is inserted into the uterus. The pregnancy is removed by creating suction with a hand held syringe, instead of the aspirator machine described above. Many women prefer this method because the suction used with MVA is less noisy than the aspiration machine.

 

The advantages of MVA over the "abortion pill" (or RU486, which should not to be confused with the morning after pill or emergency contraception) is that it can be performed in one visit to the clinic. The "abortion pill", however, involves two visits and requires a follow-up visit approximately 2 weeks after a woman has taken the medication.

At the time of your appointment, you can discuss these methods and find out which would be best and available to you.