Surgical Abortion

We believe that every woman has the right to privacy, dignity, and access to safe and legal abortion services when faced with the decision to proceed with terminating a pregnancy. This option is available up to 17 weeks.

Surgical Abortion Santa Ana, CA

Our Clinic Offers the Surgical Abortion Up to 17 Weeks

If you are early and under 10 weeks, we usually recommend that a termination be performed with the abortion pill, or by medical means.

However, there are certain times and circumstances that make a surgical abortion more preferable. Such situations may include specific existing medical conditions. Also, if you are further along than 10 weeks, then the surgical option may be the only choice.

You will meet with our physician and an ultrasound will be performed to figure the age of pregnancy. The physician will then discuss your options to determine the best method of termination. For some, the medical or abortion pill option will be best. For others, the surgery option may be best or the only option.

The surgical abortion is also known as Dilation and Curettage, or D and C for short. It involves dilating, or opening the cervix to gain access to the pregnancy inside the uterus, and subsequently evacuating it.

In the second trimester, it is known as Dilation and Evacuation, or D and E. This is similar to a D and C, but since the pregnancy is further along the process is a bit more complex and involved in order to remove a larger pregnancy. Our limit for pregnancy termination is 17 weeks as confirmed by ultrasound that day.

Dignity, respect, compassion, affordability, without judgement. 

Our core value is one of respect, inclusiveness, and empathy.

We are a community women’s clinic and abortion center that provides low cost, affordable reproductive health care for the women of Southern California, located in Santa Ana, Orange County.

Our Clinic and Staff Are Highly Experienced With This Procedure, Ensuring High Safety

This option has been successfully and safely performed repeatedly in the past, and does not pose a lot of risk. Even though every procedure contains risk, the risks with this process are very low.

As with every medical procedure, the experience of the operator is extremely important. The more experienced and skilled the doctor, the lower the chance of complications. Rest assured that our staff physician Dr. Nasseri is highly skilled in performing D & C and D & E. He has been in practice for over 20 years and has safely performed thousands of these procedures.

We perform this procedure under local anesthesia, or numbing medication that is locally injected into the cervix and uterus to provide numbing. This is in contrast to general anesthesia which means going completely under, or going to sleep.

The reason is that general anesthesia carries many additional risks that are not present with the local method. In fact, the risks of the general anesthetic are comparable to the risks of the procedure itself. Therefore, the safest way to perform this is by staying awake and under local. The recovery is also faster and easier this way.

Time Spent at Our Clinic On Day of Abortion

Usually we can complete the process in one day. The surgery itself does not take a long time, on average 30 minutes or less. However, the preparation part is very important and can take 4-6 hours. Most of that time is invested in slowly opening and softening the cervix so that the actual procedure becomes much easier and safer for you.

Plan on spending on average 6 hours at our clinic, and sometimes longer depending on how far along you are. A pregnancy in the second trimester may require some additional time for preparation.

You will be given medications to achieve the preparation phase followed later by the D and C.

What to Expect the Day of the Surgical Abortion

You will first meet with the physician, and after a brief history an ultrasound will be performed to confirm the age of the pregnancy. This is a very important step to ensure that the dating of the pregnancy is accurate because the age dictates what preparations need to be undertaken and what approach is best. We want to know the exact size as it is on that day, and so we perform our own sonogram regardless of prior sonograms. The options and risks of each option will be explained to you.

Since you will not be undergoing general anesthesia, it is not necessary to have an empty stomach. However, you want to limit the amount of food that day, as a full stomach makes it more likely you will have vomiting afterwards. We recommend very little food intake that morning, and mostly confined to liquids.

Even though you won’t be going to sleep, we still recommend you arrange for a ride / driver, because it will allow us to give you a sedative to relax. Of course, you cannot drive after taking a sedative.

Due to safety and sterility reasons, friends and family are not allowed in the procedure room during the termination.

After a short recovery and observation period, you will be given one follow up appointment and then released home.

The cost depends on the age of the conception. It is lowest whenever it is less than 9 weeks of pregnancy (up to 9 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period). After that, the cost increases for each additional week. It is best to call us at 714-966-9094 to get a more exact cost. On the day of your visit we will have to perform an ultrasound to determine the exact age of the conception. The fee is all inclusive, and includes the cost of blood work, medications administered during the procedure, ultrasound examination, local anesthesia, as well as post operative follow up visit.

As with any surgery, it does carry some risk. Although terminations are usually very safe, there is a small risk of infection, bleeding, uterine perforation, blood transfusion, hospitalization, hysterectomy, sterility, or even death. However, the risks of such events are low, and in experienced hands are very low. Such risks must be weighed against the risks of continuing the conception, which carries risks that are similar or higher in likelihood. The risks for the pill are less, which is the reason we recommend it over the surgery if you are early enough and a candidate to take it.

The answer is possibly, although highly unlikely. If one of the above complications occurr, there is an increased likelihood of infertility in the future. However, since such events are rare, the likelihood of future infertility is also rare

In most cases, mild cramps and slight vaginal bleeding is the extent of all that is expected afterwards. Some discomfort and cramping is normal, as is some bleeding. The bleeding usually lightens significantly or ceases within 2-3 weeks. If the bleeding is heavier than a period, or lasts longer than 3 weeks, you should seek an evaluation by us. If the pain is severe, or you notice heavy discharge or fevers or chills, contact us.

The typical options include general and local anesthesia. General anesthesia presents a higher risk of death, aspiration pneumonia, uterine perforation, and vaginal bleeding. Therefore, for safety reasons, we do not offer general anesthesia. We have found that local anesthesia is safer and provides adequate pain relief during the process. Local anesthesia is sometimes combined with a mild sedative / tranquilizer, and provides adequate pain relief.

It is best to be accompanied by another adult, and ideally to have that adult be able to drive you. We do not recommend that you drive, walk home, or take the bus by yourself.

You may have someone accompany you while in the waiting lobby. However, we request that only one support person accompany each patient. Also, both for safety as well as confidentiality reasons, non-patients are not permitted in the recovery area or procedure room.

The actual surgical procedure takes no more than 30 minutes. However, preparing you for the procedure takes much longer, since a history and exam must be performed, as well as paperwork, blood work, an ultrasound, and time to observe you afterwards. The bulk of the time spent is allowing the pre-operative medications, including antibiotics and those that prepare the uterus to take effect. All together, plan on spending at least 5-6 hours at our medical clinic if you plan to have the surgical procedure.

A follow up visit is always recommended between 3 to 4 weeks later. This is necessary to ensure that it was successful, as well as to address any problems that may have arisen. Occasionally, some pregnancy tissue may have been retained, and this needs to be evacuated. Therefore, a follow up visit at our medical clinic is very important to ensure that the unplanned pregnancy has completely resolved without any problems.

Although we welcome walk-in patients and try to accommodate them as much as possible, we cannot guarantee that they will be seen that day. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you obtain an appointment.

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