Abortion may bring about a disruption in your menstrual hormones. Although, irregular period after abortion is quite normal, it is important to know exactly what to expect.
An onset of pregnancy brings about many changes in a woman’s body. There is a lot of activity on the hormonal front. Menstrual hormones are taken over by the pregnancy hormones as the body starts preparing itself for childbirth. However, in an unfortunate event of an abortion or a miscarriage, the hormones are thrown off track. The whole cycle goes haywire during this period. Hence, it is very much possible to experience unusual response from your body to the hormonal activity. During this time, your period may come early, or get delayed, and also vary a great deal in its nature.
Irregular Period After Abortion
When a pregnancy is terminated at a very early stage, it is referred to as an abortion. Although, the fetal growth at this stage is little, pregnancy hormones are already rampant inside the body. Besides, the body signals various organs such as uterus, breasts to start preparing for pregnancy. If in such circumstances the fetus fails to show normal development, it is expelled by the body naturally, or the pregnancy is terminated clinically. The abrupt loss of pregnancy confuses the body and causes the hormones to go haywire. Your body takes some time to resume its pre-pregnancy state.
During this period, the first priority of your body is to expel all the remnants of the lost pregnancy. Fetal tissue along with other debris from the uterus is expelled out of the body. This is characterized by heavy bleeding. You may take this for your first period after miscarriage or abortion. This may occur within days or weeks of abortion.
In case of a medical abortion, you will probably have all the fetal tissue cleared surgically. In that case, you may not experience such heavy bleeding. Only your normal period may get delayed by a few weeks until the hormones set in. Irregular period after medical abortion may be less heavy and painful than a natural one.
What to Expect
As mentioned above your first period after abortion may or may not be anything similar to your usual period. It may be lighter than a usual period or heavy with a few small clots. Similarly, it may only last for a couple of days or may go on for an entire week or more. Both of these extremes are considered pretty normal. You may also experience slight cramping in abdominal area which may be more acute than normal menstrual cramping. However, if your period is characterized by very heavy bleeding, large clots and severe pain, then you might want to see your doctor immediately. Similarly, if the color of blood is bright red as opposed to reddish brown you may still want to report it to the doctor.
It is unusual for your body to begin ovulation immediately after termination of pregnancy. Hence, your first period may not be a true period in that sense. Your body will mostly start ovulating after this period, when the hormones have attained their pre-pregnancy status. Nonetheless, you should not indulge in unprotected sex during this time. A subsequent pregnancy is not desirable as you should allow your body some time to cope with the loss of pregnancy. Eventually, it will regain the strength to carry a pregnancy to a full term. Hence, you should wait for at least a couple of months before trying for another pregnancy.
Thus, you can expect the unexpected on the first period after abortion. However, anything that seems abnormal after abortion, or a trauma, must be reported to the doctor.
