Although your menstruation may not come for several weeks after your abortion, you can ovulate (be fertile) at any time after the abortion. This means you can get pregnant right away, even if you are still having some light bleeding. If you want to avoid becoming pregnant, it is very important to start using contraceptives immediately.
Latest guidelines from the World Health Organization adapted their protocols on timing of when to start hormonal contraception and IUD after (medical) abortion.
You can use condoms and other birth control methods right away. An IUD can be put in place as soon as the abortion procedure is determined successful, 4-14 days after you have taken the Misoprostol, even if there is still light bleeding. You can also wait to insert an IUD until your next regular period, but you will need to use another contraceptive method in the meantime if you do not want to risk becoming pregnant.
You can start hormonal contraceptive methods (pills, patch, ring, injection, implant) immediately after the first pill of the medical abortion. Oral contraceptive pills can also be started 1 to 3 days after using the Misoprostol. If you start birth control pills more than 3 days after using the Misoprostol, it is recommended that you use a barrier method (condoms) during the first 9 days, until the pills reach their full level of protection.
If the medical abortion did not work and you are still pregnant, the hormones used in the birth control pills, patch, implant, ring,and injection are not dangerous to a developing fetus. Nevertheless, we recommend an ultrasound to confirm whether the abortion was successful or not.
