When can you start hormonal birth control after using abortion pills?

Good news -you don't have to wait long after using abortion pills to start hormonal birth control!

What kind of hormonal birth control is best for you? Consider how often you want to have to remember to take it/replace it (every day, every three months, every five years?). Do you want something that's easily reversible, in case you do want to get pregnant in the future? Do you want something that will reduce your period? You can consult a healthcare provider about picking a birth control method, and check out Bedsider's Method Explorer to evaluate and compare different kinds of birth control.

If you opt for the pill, the patch, the shot, or the contraceptive implant, you can start once the heaviest bleeding as a result of the misoprostol subsides. Bleeding is usually heaviest between and 5 hours after you use misoprostol, and that heavy flow generally subsides within 24 hours. While you might experience spotting and even passing clots for days or weeks, it's fine to start hormonal birth control during that time. If you want to wait until you confirm that the abortion was successful, you can do so by taking a home pregnancy test between 3-4 weeks later, or a blood test sooner than that. If you had pregnancy symptoms, and they go away after taking the pills, that's another indication that the abortion was successful. Super important: if you do end up waiting more than 5 days after abortion to start these one of these types of hormonal birth control, you should use a barrier method, like a condom, if you're going to have sex in the meantime.

If you're planning to get an IUD for birth control, it can be inserted by a health care provider once it's been confirmed that you're no longer pregnant.

No method of birth control is absolutely full-proof, and contraceptives aren't always easy to access, which are two reasons why many people have multiple abortions. Having more than one safe abortion, whether it's with pills or a surgical abortion, doesn't endanger your health or your ability to have children in the future. Abortion stigma exists to make us feel as though we are immoral when we choose abortions, when in fact, we are not. What's actually immoral is perpetuating false information about a common medical procedure because you think people shouldn't be able to opt out of pregnancy.

Women Help Women can help you access both abortion pills and contraceptives. Check out our FAQs to find out whether or not they're right for you, how to get them, how they work, and more.