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Same Day Appointments Available
If you had a telehealth visit and were mailed the combination abortion pill, you may have questions. You may have questions and concerns since you haven’t had an in-clinic appointment. If you received the abortion pill in the mail and you’re scared to take it without a medical appointment, an options consultation and ultrasound at Alcove Health can provide you with the medical services and information you need.
That’s good news, right?
Here’s more good news. Here at Alcove Health, all of these medical services are free and confidential. So, you can get the medical care you need, without worrying about any extra costs over what you’ve already paid to get the abortion pill in the mail.
If you haven’t received any medical services yet, know that the FDA and the Prescriber Agreement from the abortion pill manufacturer both require that the professional prescribing the medication be able to do several things.
The FDA has outlined these requirements in their Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for the first pill in the combination abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA adds REMS safety strategies for medications with serious safety concerns.
Under this REMS protection, the FDA requires providers who prescribe mifepristone to sign a Prescriber Agreement Form, in which the prescribers agrees they have the:
This is where Alcove Health Women’s Clinic comes in. At Alcove Health, you’ll have a safe space to get all your questions answered by our staff before beginning any abortion procedure. In addition to our staff, you’ll have your questions answered by the medical services you receive. Like a lab-grade pregnancy test and an ultrasound.
The pregnancy test you took at home is probably correct. They usually are. But not always. Our lab-grade pregnancy test will give you a result you can trust. If it’s positive, our nurses can assess you for an ultrasound. The ultrasound can give you the accurate age of your pregnancy and make sure your pregnancy isn’t ectopic.
If you’re relying solely on a telehealth screening, know that Mayo clinic states “your doctor can’t diagnose an ectopic pregnancy by examining you. You’ll need blood tests and an ultrasound.” The abortion pill does not work on ectopic pregnancies and an undetected ectopic pregnancy may cause life-threatening bleeding for the woman.
While abortions can be prescribed via telehealth with screening for likelihoods, ultrasounds can only be performed in person. An ultrasound may sound like a speed bump to you right now, but if haven’t had an ultrasound yet, it is the safest way to make sure you don’t have an ectopic pregnancy and you have accurately determined the age of your pregnancy – all at once. Plus, it’s quick.
Sometimes women come into our clinic with their abortion pill package in hand. They want an abortion, but they want answers first. Answers that can only be provided by an in-person clinic visit, even after receiving the abortion pill in the mail.
For 46 Alcove Health clients last year, these services prevented them from starting an abortion process for a nonexistent or nonviable pregnancy. That’s the value of in-clinic services before taking the pill.
Playing the odds on your health just doesn’t make sense when you don’t have to. And the risks are real. Women who receive the abortion pill via telehealth do slip by with ectopic pregnancies and, when figuring out the age of their pregnancies by their last menstrual period, women are frequently not accurate – up to 40% of the time.
So, if you received the abortion pill by mail, call or click visit our appointment page to request your medical appointment with Alcove Health before you take the pill. Our goal is to quickly get you the information you need to move ahead safely.
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