From as early as five weeks and up to nine weeks, a pregnancy can be safely ended through the use of a combination of medicines, which induce a miscarriage.
On the first day of the medication termination, you will receive Mifegyne tablets. These will:
Two days later, you will receive misoprostol tablets. These work to expel the pregnancy tissue.
For more detailed information on the medical termination process at Epsom Day Unit, take a look at our medical termination information leaflet.
Termination is a safe and legal procedure in New Zealand with very few serious complications. Since 1978, when legal terminations became available in New Zealand, no woman has died as a direct result of a termination.
Medication terminations are generally regarded as safer than surgical terminations because:
Many women believe it is a more natural method and allows more privacy.
In about five in 100 women who have a medication termination, the termination may not be complete. If this happens to you then you will be offered a surgical termination.
After your appointment, you may experience:
For more information, take a look at our information leaflet about second trimester medical abortion [PDF, 1 MB], which will tell you more about what you can expect.
Following the procedure, you may wish to consider your contraception options(). You can discuss this with your doctor.