Caring for yourself during your Medication Abortion

If you have chosen to have a medication abortion, it’s important that you block off as much time as possible to rest after you take the misoprostol. This can require advance planning, such as talking to your boss ahead of time to take a day or two off work or scheduling your appointment before your day off, arranging childcare, or making sure you have everything you need (food, medications, etc) on hand so you don’t have to get in your car when you’re feeling crummy to go shop. 

In the sections below, we’ll share some tips to help you take care of yourself physically and emotionally during a medication abortion.

Be prepared

Some helpful supplies to have on hand during your medication abortion include the following:

• Overnight sanitary pads or adult diapers

• Any medications recommended by your doctor, like ibuprofen, tylenol, or pepto-bismol

• Vomit bags

• Flushable wipes

• Heating pad, hot water bottle/bladder, or rice sock 

• Comfy clothes

• Water bottle

• Thermometer for taking your temperature

• Warm blankets

• Tissues

• Clean towels or paper towels

Create a comfortable environment

After you take your misoprostol, it is common to feel unwell, so make sure you organize your space while you’re still feeling okay. Your future self will thank you for creating a comfy space to pass the pregnancy.

• Tidy your area before the symptoms begin. 

• Sanitize your bathtub with a disinfectant cleaner, if you think a bath might be helpful.

• If you have an essential oil diffuser, you might enjoy diffusing lavender for relaxation or peppermint for anti-nausea.

• Play relaxing music. Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube offer great options if you search ‘meditation music,’ or you can play music that you really love. 

• Putting on a silly or comforting movie, if you would like a distraction.

• Have books or magazines on hand.

• Keep the lights low. Candles can be a nice touch, but be wary of lighting a candle if you are not confident you’ll remain awake to monitor it.

Alleviate pain

Strong cramps and physical discomfort accompany many medication abortions. The following suggestions may help any uncomfortable physical sensations.

• Rhythmic breathing.

  • YouTube has some great resources if you search for "breath work" videos.

• Movement/positioning to alleviate cramping.

• Child’s pose, side-lying, hip squeeze, figure 8 hip motion, squatting. 

• Use pain medication as prescribed or recommended by your doctor. You should not take aspirin, as this can increase bleeding.

• Heating pad on lower back/belly.

• Take a warm shower or bath.*

  • Do not use a bathtub during a medication abortion that has not been thoroughly sanitized, because it can lead to infection.

• Sit backwards on the toilet and lean on the back of the toilet (a pillow may be placed there for comfort). This can help with pelvic floor relaxation.

• Self-massage

  • Hip squeezes can help with low back pain by relieving pressure on the pelvis: Place your palms on the fleshy part of hips below the iliac crest (top of the pelvis) and apply pressure inwards and upwards.

  • Sacrum presses: Place heel of palm or flat knuckles against your sacrum (bottom of your spine) and apply downward pressure.

Care for yourself emotionally

No matter what your feelings are towards your pregnancy and abortion, it is not uncommon for strong emotions to occur, especially since the release process can be physically difficult.

• Identify a support person ahead of time. This can be a partner, friend, family member, or Colorado Doula Project volunteer. This should be someone who is completely supportive of your choice, and agrees to be available in person or by phone or text message to provide emotional support.

• If you are experiencing feelings of disappointment, hatred, shame, or anger towards yourself, remember that many of these negative feelings come from the stigma surrounding abortion and that there is nothing wrong with you or your choice. Full stop. 

• Remember that statistically, one in four pregnant people will have an abortion, so even if you don’t think you know anyone who had an abortion–you probably do. You just don’t know it. 

• You made the best decision for yourself and your current and/or future family. Sometimes the best, most logical choice can be heartbreaking, and that’s okay.

• If you are a religious or spiritual person who is struggling with the belief that you may have ‘killed your baby,’ you may find comfort in the post from the blog of Irish-Catholic mystic Lorna Byrne (this is applicable for members of most Judeo-Christian people–not just Catholics). Click here to read it.

• If you need ongoing support, you might look into engaging the services of a therapist. Many health insurance plans cover therapy. If you don’t have health insurance, you might also look into a service like BetterHelp, that aims to provide accessible therapy at a more affordable price. 

  • Before making an appointment with a therapist, clarify their position on abortion so you can be confident that you are not walking into a situation where a therapist’s personal bias might cause you emotional damage.

  • Some anti-abortion organizations or churches might offer ‘post abortion’ counseling for free. While it might seem tempting to accept an offer for free post-abortion counseling, these services more often than not will impose a religious agenda and make you feel sadness and shame.

  • The Unitarian Universalist church is a pro-choice organization. If you are looking for supportive, free counseling around your abortion that might include a religious theme, we recommend finding a local UU pastor and contacting them. 

Nourish your body

We recognize that some of the following suggestions might not be in everyone’s food budget but also want to note that after an abortion, it is best to eat foods that help replenish nutrient stores, support the liver, and balance hormones.

It is also extremely important to stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water and fluids. Soda, sugary drinks, coffee, tea, and even herbal teas can often be drying or diuretic (increase urination), so be sure to replace the water you lose. Drink more water than you think you need. 

Protein

Foods high in protein help with physical healing by creating new hormones and blood clotting. Try eating:

• Meat

• Fish

• Beans and lentils

• Eggs

• Tofu

Iron

Eating foods rich in iron is necessary to create certain hormones and hemoglobin, which is a part of red blood cells. Try eating:

• Red meat

• Liver

• Molasses

• Eggs

• Lentils

• Dark, leafy greens such as kale, spinach, collard greens etc.

High quality fats  

Eating essential fatty acids supports hormone production and hormone balance. Try eating:

• Coconut oil

• Avocado oil

• Meat

• Try to avoid processed foods, which often contain rancid oils

Hormone balancers 

There is often a crash of hormones after a miscarriage or abortion, so eating foods or taking supplements or vitamins that support the production of hormones is helpful for mitigating this. The cofactors necessary to create hormones include:

• Dietary protein (meats, fish, eggs, tofu, etc.)

• "Good" cholesterol (olive oil, salmon, berries, avocado, nuts and seeds)

• Essential fatty acids (fish, tofu, chia seeds, flaxseed oil, walnuts)

• Zinc (shellfish, eggs, meat, nuts and seeds, dairy, whole grains)

• Vitamin C (citrus fruits, broccoli, brussels sprouts, strawberries)

• All of the B vitamins (red meat, leafy greens, eggs, dairy, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast)

• Magnesium (pumpkin seeds, almonds, spinach, cashews, peanut butter, whole wheat bread, soy milk, edamame) 

The Magic of Bone Broth

This “superfood” has a wide array of the amino acids our bodies need in order to make proteins, hormones, and components of a well-functioning immune system. Bone broth is incredibly healing to the gut and deeply nourishing. It is very easy to make yourself, and much cheaper. Recipes can be found online. If you want to purchase it at a store, bone broth is in the freezer section of many grocery stores. Avoid the shelf-stable "bone broth" in the soup section. 

Probiotics

Usually people are prescribed antibiotics after an abortion to stave off infection. It is a good idea to take a probiotic 2 hours before or after the antibiotics for the duration of their use. This is because antibiotics wipe out the good bacteria in your digestive system, and probiotics help to replace them. Not having probiotics in the gut leads to anxiety and depression.