Termination of pregnancy at home

This page provides information about our early pregnancy medical termination at home service.

Our medical termination at home service offers choice, helping you to feel more in control of your treatment – an essential part of decision-making in often difficult circumstances.

What does the procedure involve?

The procedure is called ‘Early Medical Termination of Pregnancy at Home’. It involves:

You attend the Women’s Health Unit to take one tablet (called Mifepristone)
You come back to the unit 48 hours later for further treatment (another medication called Misoprostol which is given vaginally).
Instead of staying in hospital to pass the pregnancy, the woman can do this at home
About six hours after the treatment has started, women are contacted at home by one of our experienced nurses. Our nurses can then offer support and advice.
Patients are contacted three weeks after the procedure to ensure a pregnancy test is taken with a negative result.

Before the treatment, we fully counsel you about all the possible risks, including the possibility of an ongoing pregnancy.

Emergency contact details

We give you contact details for medical and nursing staff via the gynaecology department’s emergency Assessment Service.

This helps women to get help or reassurance should they encounter any problems during or after the procedure.

Criteria for treatment

Before you are offered this procedure, you must meet certain criteria. These include:

A confirmed pregnancy less than nine weeks gone
You should be over 16 years of age (unless accompanied by a parent/guardian)
You should be certain of the decision to end the pregnancy
An adult should accompany you at home before, during and after taking the misoprostol
You should live within 40 minutes travelling time from the RVI
You should have no conditions or other reasons that may stop her from having a medical abortion
A language interpreter isn’t needed
We have no cause for concern about the your wellbeing, or safeguarding issues.

Management plan

After we receive your consent, we inform the your GP of the treatment management plan, particularly if you have self-referred.

GPs are kept fully informed about the care, treatment plan and outcome.

What you have told us

The feedback we have received from people who have chosen this treatment option has been positive.

Patients have said they feel more comfortable having the procedure in their own home. They feel supported by friends and family with the reassurance that nursing and medical staff are available 24 hours a day for professional advice and support.