Vacuum aspiration is a procedure performed between 7 and 15 weeks LMP. The physician numbs the cervix , opening to the womb or uterus, and dilates it to an opening about as big around as your finger. A hollow plastic tube with an opening in one side of the tip is inserted into the uterus. It is connected to a vacuum aspirator which produces a gentle suction and empties the uterus. Medically speaking, this is a very safe, simple procedure which takes about 4 to 8 minutes. It is the most common type of abortion performed. Dilation and evacuation is a procedure used in the second trimester of pregnancy and requires that a woman be at a clinic several hours on two consecutive days. On the first day, the physician inserts a sterile fiber into the cervix which absorbs moisture from the woman's body. Overnight it expands and enlarges the opening in the cervix. On the second day, the woman returns to the clinic and the procedure is completed using small forceps and gentle suction. Dilation and extraction, also known as a "partial birth"" abortion, is a procedure is utilized by very few physicians in the country. While it can be used in the second trimester, it is typically used in cases of doomed pregnancies early in the third trimester of pregnancy. This procedure protects a woman's cervix for future child birth by keeping the opening small. The fetal head, which is made of cartilage, like that in an ear, not hard bone like an adult skull, is collapsed and passed through the cervix. In cases of wanted pregnancies with severe fetal abnormality, the physician has the capability to reconstitute the head with a jelly like substance. This allows a grief-stricken couple to hold their baby wrapped in a blanket, say good-bye, and take an important first step in a very long and difficult grieving process. One last form of surgical abortion is dilation and curettage which is a scraping of the uterine wall.
