Register for an initial consultation at the centre before you are 12 weeks pregnant. After this first appointment there is a mandatory waiting period of six days before the abortion can be carried out.
The first appointment
The first consultation consists of three parts: an administrative part, a psychosocial part and a medical part. Expect to spend one and a half hours at the centre.
- Administrative: a receptionist will welcome you and create your file. You will be asked to fill in a medical and administrative questionnaire. Your privacy is guaranteed at every stage.
- Psychosocial: you will have an interview with one of our staff members. The purpose of this meeting is for you to say what you want to say, ask questions and have the process explained. Depending on your needs, we will look more deeply at the feelings and thoughts that an unwanted pregnancy may engender. In doubt? We are specialised in guiding you to the right decision for you. Topics that are likely to be discussed include what went wrong with the contraception and what contraceptive method you would like to use in the future, the methods used to terminate a pregnancy and the method you prefer.
- Medical: you will then have a consultation with one of our doctors, who will determine exactly how far you are in your pregnancy by means of an ultrasound. A vaginal infection test will also be carried out. If necessary, a blood sample will be taken. You will be billed for the costs of the lab test. Please speak to one of our staff members if this is a problem.
There is a mandatory waiting period of six days between the first appointment and the abortion.
On the day of the abortion, you must confirm your request for a termination in writing.
The abortion
The abortion can be carried out in two different ways:
Method 1: suction curettage
For this treatment, you will be with the doctor for about 15 to 30 minutes. You will be asked to take a seat on the gynaecological chair. The doctor will insert a speculum and disinfect the vagina. The cervix is given a local anaesthetic and slightly opened. A thin tube is then inserted to aspirate the amniotic sac. You may briefly feel moderate to strong cramps, similar to severe menstrual pain.
During the procedure, you will be assisted by a nurse. After the procedure, the nurse will take you to a room where you can rest for half an hour.
You will be at the centre for a total of two hours for this treatment. You may come alone or bring someone with you to the centre, who may stay with you during the procedure if you wish.
Method 2: abortion pill
An abortion by medication is an induced miscarriage and always occurs in two steps. The first pill stops the pregnancy from growing. The second set of pills causes the uterus to contract, thus expelling the amniotic sac.
The first pill contains mifepristone, a substance that prevents the hormones that are necessary for the pregnancy from working. The pregnancy can no longer progress properly after you have taken this pill. Most women feel few physical effects after taking this pill. Since the decision to terminate the pregnancy is taken definitively when the pill is taken, this is always done at the centre. Please allow half an hour for this.
The second type of medication is administered 24 to 48 hours later. You will need to insert four tablets vaginally. These cause the uterus to contract, which after a while will expel the amniotic sac together with blood and clots. Exactly when this happens differs from one woman to the next. You will be at the centre for four hours so that we can observe how you react to the medication. Some women feel the contractions of the uterus strongly and may feel nauseous for a while or suffer diarrhoea. Others feel little in the way of side effects. If you do experience side effects, we will help alleviate them as much as possible.
We ask you not to leave the centre on your own and to have someone who is aware of your situation with you, preferably for the rest of the day and night.
Post-12 week abortion
Are you more than 12 weeks pregnant? In that case abortion is not permitted in Belgium unless carrying the pregnancy to term poses a serious threat to the woman's life, or an examination has shown that the child will suffer from an incurable disease (based on current scientific knowledge).
In these cases, the treatment must be carried out in a hospital and the opinion of a second doctor must be sought.
If you wish to have an abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy and there is no medical reason as described above, you can currently only go abroad (The Netherlands, Great Britain). If you are in such a situation, you can contact us for a meeting, information and possibly a referral to a clinic abroad. You can certainly also come to us for a check-up after the procedure.
