Summit Medical Associates offers abortion services by
appointment up to 24 weeks from the last menstrual period (LMP). Abortions
are performed under general or local anesthesia by state licensed, board
certified or eligible OB-GYN physicians.
Medical Abortion
4 - 7 weeks
Non-surgical abortion (abortion by pill) is available up to 7 weeks (49
days) gestation. This process requires several visits to the clinic. Two
medications are used -- Mifeprex (RU486) and Misoprostol. Counseling is
a very important part of the medical abortion process. Medical abortion
allows the patient to complete the abortion in the privacy and comfort
of her home.
Surgical Abortion
5 - 7 weeks
First Trimester Abortions are performed within 5.0 - 12.5 weeks of your
last menstrual period (LMP). The abortion method is known as vacuum aspiration.
The cervix is opened gently with a cervical dilator. The physician will
use an aspirator, a medical instrument which creates suction, to gently
clean the contents of the uterus. With early vacuum aspiration abortion,
complications are extremely rare and the risk of injury or infection is
minimal.
13 - 16.5 weeks
Early Second Trimester Abortions are performed using a method called Dilation
and Evacuation, which requires the cervix to be opened by insertion of
dilators or lamicels. Lamicels are inserted approximately three hour prior
to your procedure, allowing the cervix to gently open so the physician
can perform the procedure. The procedure lasts approximately 5 - 10 minutes.
The patient will stay in the recovery room for one hour after the procedure
is completed.
17 - 23.5 weeks
Late Second Trimester Abortions require two consecutive visits to the
center. On the first day, cervical dilators called laminaria are inserted
into the cervix. The dilators will gently open the cervix overnight. The
patient is required to remain in the Atlanta area during the night of
dilation. The following morning, the patient will return to the center
and the physician will perform the surgery. The surgery will take from
7 - 15 minutes, and the physician will use medical instruments to evacuate
the uterus. The patient will stay in the recovery room for approximately
one hour prior to being discharged.
All abortions are performed by state licensed Board
Certified or eligible OB-GYN physicians. All patients are given an extensive
pre-examination. This includes taking a complete medical history to make
sure that no problems exist that would make an abortion procedure inadvisable.
All patients receive an ultrasound to determine length of pregnancy, and
laboratory testing, which includes taking a blood sample and a urine specimen.
The lab assistant will type the blood for anemia and for the Rh factor.
In addition, a pregnancy test will be performed on the urine.
Patients are given a 24 hour emergency telephone number,
(404) 607-0042, in the event they experience any discomfort or complications
after being discharged from Summit. Follow-up examinations are given free
of charge three weeks after the procedure.
Payment can be made with cash, MasterCard or Visa. No
personal checks or money orders are accepted. Summit also accepts some
insurance. If paying by insurance, please call at least 72 in advance
of your appointment for insurance certification.
Summit Medical Associates
1874 Piedmont Road
Suite 500-E
Atlanta, GA 30324