Bleeding does not mean that you have had a successful abortion. If you still have symptoms of pregnancy such as sore breasts or nausea, you may have a continuing pregnancy.
A continuing pregnancy is a pregnancy that continues to develop even after the use of Mifepristone and Misoprostol. In this case, the abortion has failed completely and the woman remains pregnant.
Even if you bleed, you can still have a continuing pregnancy.
Pregnancy tests after abortion pills
You should have an ultrasound within a week or do a pregnancy test 3 weeks later to confirm that the pregnancy has ended. Most pregnancy tests that are done 3 weeks after the abortion are reliable.
It is necessary to wait 3 weeks after the abortion because the pregnancy hormones can remain in the body and can make the pregnancy test falsely positive.
If you have an ongoing pregnancy after you did a medical abortion, you can try to do a medical abortion again or have a surgical abortion.
What if I have a positive pregnancy test after abortion pills?
Although the risk is very low (less than 10/1000), Misoprostol can increase the risk of fetal malformations, when used during the first trimester of the pregnancy. If possible, we advise women with continuing pregnancies to undergo surgical or medical abortion to terminate the pregnancy.
Research shows that the risk of continuing pregnancies change as per the length of pregnancy during medical abortion.
| Length of Pregnancy | % of continuing pregnancies |
| 1-49 days | 0.1 % |
| 50-77 days | 0.5 % |
| 78-83 days | 3.1 % |
| 84-91 days | 5.1 % |
