Periods after Medical Abortion. What to do when monthly periods are delayed

Official guidelines and protocols do not prescribe precisely when the next period following medical abortion may occur.

To help you know when to expect your next period, think of a medical abortion discharge (after taking medication) as your period. Because of this, in most cases (60-70%), your next period will be the days’ same number as your normal menstrual cycle. However, there may vary between 14 days and 45-50 days.

A delay of menstruation up to 2 weeks should not alarm you; this is part of the ordinary medical abortion course.

If your period is delayed for more than three weeks, you should contact your gynecologist for an examination and, if necessary, your period an induction.

In the fact that your menstrual cycle may be irregular for several months to come, and there is a possibility that you may be pregnant, it is essential to take care of safe contraception after your medical abortion. Preference should be given to hormonal contraceptive methods (e.g., COCs) that have the most significant efficacy and curative menstrual control. See the section on Contraception after medical abortion for more information.

If your period is delayed for 7-10 days (from your estimated date), you should perform a pregnancy test (preferably an inkjet pregnancy test as it is the most sensitive).

If the test is weakly positive, it is advisable to take a blood test for HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin).

If the test is negative, we must wait a week, and if there is no menstruation, we must ask your gynecologist for a menstrual provocation (typically with Progesterone analogs).