A woman’s reproductive health is often one of the most overlooked aspects of her wellbeing.
If you find yourself facing an unplanned pregnancy, there are steps you want to take to make sure you are taking care of your reproductive health, whether or not you choose to terminate the pregnancy.
Schedule a Pregnancy Test
You will first want to confirm your pregnancy before anything else, especially if you have taken an at-home pregnancy test or are relying on common pregnancy symptoms such as tender or sore breasts, fatigue, nausea, or missed periods, etc.
You’ll want to verify that you are actually pregnant by using a confidential, medical-grade pregnancy test that we offer here at Aim’s Women’s Center.
Schedule an Ultrasound
Once you’ve confirmed that you actually are pregnant, you’ll want to monitor the progress and health of your pregnancy by getting an ultrasound done. It is the best way to verify your progress and your health.
Ultrasounds are helpful for monitoring the health of the pregnancy and for detecting whether or not the pregnancy is ectopic, meaning located outside of the uterus.
Ectopic pregnancies are dangerous to the mother and require immediate medical attention.
Schedule an STI Test
If you’ve confirmed that you are pregnant, you’ve verified your progress with an ultrasound, and are weighing your options of whether or not to terminate the pregnancy, make sure that you schedule an STI screening.
Annual screening for STIs is recommended for all sexually active women 25 years and under. If you’re 25 or older and have a new partner(s), it’s also recommended to get an annual test for your own wellness as well as that of your partner(s).
The value of getting screened for an STI before having an abortion (even a medical abortion) is that getting an abortion if you have an asymptomatic STI can pose serious risks to your health.
For example, one study proved that the majority of people who have Chlamydia are unaware of their condition. Another study found that women who have an untreated STI are almost 25% more like to to have Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) after an abortion.
Schedule an Appointment
Being unexpectedly pregnant can be daunting, but make sure you take care of your health first. Contact us today to schedule any of our free services from ultrasounds to STI screenings.