THE FACTS ABOUT EARLY ABORTION

Patients who are scheduled or will schedule an appointment for Early Abortions with the Atlanta SurgiCenter (6-14 WEEKS) will temporarily receive services at Dunwoody Women’s Medical Group while our facility is under renovation.

Dunwoody Women’s Medical Group
3114 Mercer University Drive, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30341.

Dunwoody’s Women’s Medical Group is conveniently located in Northwest Atlanta, just off of I-85 next to Mercer University. Call (404) 892-8608 or (800) 282-1046 for appointments and additional information.

(UP TO 14 WEEKS LMP)

Here at the Atlanta SurgiCenter, our first trimester abortions are provided for women who are between 6.0 weeks and 14.5 weeks pregnant. There are several steps that you will take before your abortion procedure, to ensure your safety and well-being.

PREGNANCY VERIFICATION
Every woman who is a patient at the Atlanta SurgiCenter will have an ultrasound. This advanced diagnostic technique is used 6 weeks or more after the last menstrual period to determine the correct length of the pregnancy. It is an important procedure that improves the accuracy of the physician's preoperative diagnosis and further assures the safety of the patient and the procedure.

PREOPERATIVE EVALUATION
Further laboratory work is completed to screen all potential patients. Routine laboratory analysis includes Rh typing, hemoglobin testing, urinalysis, and tissue pathology. Rhogam is administered for an additional charge to Rh-negative candidates.

With the completion of the laboratory testing, a RN will evaluate your health. Within this evaluation, your history and physical is completed and each patient is pre-screened for anesthesia risks. Our clinic is concerned with the success of your termination and we want to make sure that your current health and size of your pregnancy will allow the safest of procedures.

COUNSELING
Counseling has proven to be one of the most important assurances for patients scheduled for abortion services. Each woman gets personalized, confidential attention and care throughout her visit. Counseling services, under the direction of a Degreed Social Worker, provide information about the abortion and birth control. Counselors are also here to help with feelings and concerns related to the termination. Our counselors treat each patient with warmth, understanding, and sensitivity. Each counselor provides an attentive, supportive, and caring atmosphere where patients, their family, and friends can receive our counseling services.

VACCUM ASPIRATION PROCEDURE
Atlanta SurgiCenter performs abortions up to 14.5 weeks of pregnancy by the vacuum aspiration method, the most common method of abortion available today. The procedure involves the gradual widening of the cervix followed by the insertion of a thin flexible tube attached to a vacuum aspirator, which gently removes the uterine contents.

A patient who chooses to be totally asleep (if eligible) is given a general anesthetic through and IV. You will not remember, see, or hear anything during the abortion procedure.

A patient who chooses to have twilight anesthesia will have medications given through an IV. Twilight anesthesia is awake conscious sedation. Patients are tranquil while aware of their surroundings. You are relatively pain free. More often than not, a patient can't remember what happened during the abortion procedure.

A patient choosing a local anesthetic is given an injection, which numbs the cervix. During the procedure, the doctor will be explaining what he/she is doing so that there are "no surprises".

All abortion procedures are performed on an ambulatory basis with the pre-abortion work-up and procedure all performed on the same day. Rhogam will be administered for an additional charge to Rh-negative candidates. (See Fee Schedule).