- Virginia Women’s Wellness
What To Expect At Your Abortion Appointment: 8 Steps
If you want to know step-by-step that will happen during your abortion visit to Virginia Women’s Wellness, then this page will break it down for you into 8 steps. These 8 steps can differ slightly depending on which type of abortion you choose, and later second trimester abortions may take two days.
Here are the 8 Steps to your Abortion Visit
Reception
Intake Counseling
Ultrasound
After your Intake Counseling, you will be taken to the Ultrasound Room where you will undergo an ultrasound examination by a trained sonographer. For most patients, this can be an abdominal ultrasound. However, for some patients, especially patients who are very early in their pregnancy, you may need to undergo a vaginal ultrasound. Having an ultrasound is not dangerous. A vaginal ultrasound may cause some pressure or discomfort. If you experience discomfort, please tell the sonographer.
The goal of the ultrasound is to determine several questions, including:
- Am I, in fact, pregnant?
- Is my pregnancy inside my uterus, or could it be an ectopic pregnancy?
- What is the fetal number? Is this a singleton pregnancy? Twins? Triplets? Etc.
- How far am I into my pregnancy?
- Are there any ultrasound findings that may affect my care?
Lab Testing
Step 5
Final Counseling
Next, you (and your family member/friend if you signed up for accompaniment) will be taken to a private office where you will receive your final counseling. In your Final Counseling, our Counselor will introduce herself and answer any questions. She will then share with you the results of your ultrasound, lab tests, and vital signs. She will then review your options with you. She will then discuss your decision with you. At appropriate points in your visit, we will speak with you privately to confirm that your decision is voluntary. If you choose abortion, she will go over the risks, benefits and alternatives to abortion with you. She will offer education about what to expect. For women choosing abortion, many women have several choices as to what kind of abortion they want – medications?
Local anesthesia? Twilight? Asleep? There are pros and cons for all of these options, and she will discuss them with you, if you want. She will again answer any questions from you or anyone accompanying you. She will review the Consent Forms and witness your signature if you decide to go forward with the abortion. By the end of Final Counseling our goal is that you are fully counseled so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not to have an abortion. The conclusion of Final Counseling will be a decision about abortion. If you decide not to have an abortion, then this will be the last step in your evaluation, and we will refer you to an Obstetrician if you don’t have one. If your decision is to proceed with an abortion, then you will be taken to the clinical side of the office, where you will begin clinical care.
Step 6
Abortion Preparation
Step 7
The Abortion Procedure
Step 8
Recovery Room
In the Recovery Room you will be seated in a comfy chair or recliner. Our friendly recovery room nurse will greet you and help you. She will place monitors on you to track your vital signs. She will chat with you and keep you company. She will offer you juice, cookies or crackers, if you are interested. She will observe you the entire time you are in the Recovery Room. What she is doing is offering emotional support while also monitoring your state of consciousness and your vital signs and your bleeding – all to keep you safe. If you received sedation, we will monitor you until it has worn off sufficiently.
For all procedural patients, we will monitor your vital signs, bleeding, comfort, and overall condition until the clinical team determines that it is safe for you to leave. The recovery room nurse will go over the discharge instructions with you, discuss your follow-up options in 2 weeks, answer any last questions, give you our contact information and give you her warm wishes for a healthy recovery. The recovery room nurse will stay in the recovery room, but she will help you up and hand you off to one of our other staff, who will walk you safely out of the building. If you have a family member or friend with you, we will hand you off to them and wish you well.
Questions about your appointment?
Call Virginia Women’s Wellness or request an appointment online. Our team can explain the expected schedule for your specific gestational age and type of care.
8 Steps of the Abortion Visit
Reception
Upon arrival at our clinic, you will be greeted by our receptionist. She will sign you in and give you a packet of paperwork to fill out. We use paper records to protect your privacy and security. At our clinic, your abortion medical records do not touch the Internet. After completing your paperwork, please bring it back to the receptionist.
Intake Counseling
After completing your paperwork, the next step is that you will be called into a counseling room for one-on-one counseling with one of our trained counselors. You will begin Intake Counseling alone so we can speak with you privately. If you choose family/friend accompaniment and the required steps are completed, your companion may then join you for the remainder of Intake Counseling.
The purpose of Intake Counseling is to greet you, answer your initial questions, review your paperwork, and to orient you to what is going to happen today. This is not your Final Counseling. No final decisions are made in Intake Counseling. It is your first opportunity for an in-person, private discussion with a trained counselor. The Counselor will probably go over your options and the choices that you will need to think about today.
Ultrasound
After your Intake Counseling, you will be taken to the Ultrasound Room where you will undergo an ultrasound examination by a trained sonographer. For most patients, this can be an abdominal ultrasound. However, for some patients, especially patients who are very early in their pregnancy, you may need to undergo a vaginal ultrasound. Having an ultrasound is not dangerous. A vaginal ultrasound may cause some pressure or discomfort. If you experience discomfort, please tell the sonographer.
The goal of the ultrasound is to determine several questions, including:
Lab Testing
After completing your ultrasound, you will be taken to our Virginia Department of Health inspected, CLIA-certified, clinical laboratory. Depending upon your pregnancy stage, certain lab tests may be performed. This may involve obtaining a blood sample. It may involve asking you for a urine specimen. All women have a complete set of vital signs measured in the lab.
Final Counseling
Next, you (and your family member/friend if you signed up for accompaniment) will be taken to a private office where you will receive your final counseling. In your Final Counseling, our Counselor will introduce herself and answer any questions. She will then share with you the results of your ultrasound, lab tests, and vital signs. She will then review your options with you. She will then discuss your decision with you. At appropriate points in your visit, we will speak with you privately to confirm that your decision is voluntary.
If you choose abortion, she will go over the risks, benefits and alternatives to abortion with you. She will offer education about what to expect. For women choosing abortion, many women have several choices as to what kind of abortion they want – medications? Local anesthesia? Twilight? Asleep? There are pros and cons for all of these options, and she will discuss them with you, if you want. She will again answer any questions from you or anyone accompanying you. She will review the Consent Forms and witness your signature if you decide to go forward with the abortion. By the end of Final Counseling our goal is that you are fully counseled so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not to have an abortion. The conclusion of Final Counseling will be a decision about abortion. If you decide not to have an abortion, then this will be the last step in your evaluation, and we will refer you to an Obstetrician if you don’t have one. If your decision is to proceed with an abortion, then you will be taken to the clinical side of the office, where you will begin clinical care.
Abortion Preparation
Before proceeding with the actual abortion, you will be taken to our pre-procedure area where you will receive several medications that will prepare your body for the abortion procedure. This includes medications for nausea and vomiting, antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection, and medications to soften and dilate your cervix (cervical preparation). Then you will have to wait for the medications to take effect.
Cervical preparation time varies with gestational age and individual clinical circumstances. It may take approximately an hour for some earlier procedures, several hours for early second-trimester care and later second-trimester care may require preparation over two treatment days. Women receiving only medication abortion skip this step.
The Abortion Procedure
First, you will have a short discussion with your Virginia licensed provider. She (all of our providers are female) will introduce herself to you and ask you if you have any questions for her? Then, after answering your questions, she will review the Final Counseling and ask you if it is your decision to terminate your pregnancy? She will perform a pelvic examination. Next, anesthesia will be administered and the abortion performed.
Or if you are receiving a medication abortion, you will be given the abortion pills, and their use will be explained. If you are having a medication abortion, then after receiving our medications you are free to leave. If you had a procedural abortion, then you will be taken to the Recovery Room.
Recovery Room
In the Recovery Room you will be seated in a comfy chair or recliner. Our friendly recovery room nurse will greet you and help you. She will place monitors on you to track your vital signs. She will chat with you and keep you company. She will offer you juice, cookies or crackers, if you are interested. She will observe you the entire time you are in the Recovery Room. What she is doing is offering emotional support while also monitoring your state of consciousness and your vital signs and your bleeding – all to keep you safe. If you received sedation, we will monitor you until it has worn off sufficiently.
For all procedural patients, we will monitor your vital signs, bleeding, comfort, and overall condition until the clinical team determines that it is safe for you to leave. The recovery room nurse will go over the discharge instructions with you, discuss your follow-up options in 2 weeks, answer any last questions, give you our contact information and give you her warm wishes for a healthy recovery. The recovery room nurse will stay in the recovery room, but she will help you up and hand you off to one of our other staff, who will walk you safely out of the building. If you have a family member or friend with you, we will hand you off to them and wish you well.