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When to seek urgent medical help

If you may be having a medical emergency, call 911 or go to an emergency department now. Sudden severe abdominal or pelvic pain, shoulder pain, weakness, dizziness, or fainting can be signs of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. After an abortion, contact your clinician urgently for severe pain that does not improve, very heavy bleeding, foul-smelling discharge, fever, chills, continuing flu-like symptoms, or fainting.

This page routes you to professional help. It does not assess your symptoms, does not tell you how serious your situation is, and is not a substitute for calling emergency services or your clinician.

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Last substantive update

If this may be a medical emergency

Call 911 or go to an emergency department now. Sudden severe abdominal or pelvic pain, shoulder pain, weakness, dizziness, or fainting can be signs of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy.

After an abortion, contact your clinician urgently for any of the following:

  • severe pain that does not improve
  • very heavy bleeding
  • foul-smelling vaginal discharge
  • fever or chills
  • flu-like symptoms that continue
  • fainting

These examples are not a complete list, and this page cannot tell you how serious your situation is. Follow the emergency instructions your clinician gave you and the instructions that came with any prescribed medication.

What happens when you call 911 (opens 911.gov). For urgent emotional distress, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (opens 988lifeline.org) answers calls and texts. It is a general crisis service, not an abortion information line.

Why this page is short

If you are worried right now, you need a route to a person, not an article. Everything below is about getting you to one.

Call 911 or go to an emergency department

Call emergency services or go to an emergency department if you have any of the following:

  • Sudden severe pain in the abdomen or pelvis
  • Pain in the shoulder
  • Weakness, dizziness, or feeling faint
  • Fainting
  • Bleeding that soaks through pads very quickly
  • Difficulty breathing

These can be signs of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, which is a medical emergency. An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy growing outside the uterus. Abortion medicines do not treat it.

Do not wait for a call back, an online form, or a reply from anyone, including this site.

Contact your clinician urgently

Contact the service that prescribed the medicines or performed the procedure, without waiting for a scheduled appointment, if you have:

  • Severe pain that does not improve
  • Very heavy bleeding
  • Vaginal discharge with a foul smell
  • Fever or chills
  • Flu-like symptoms that continue
  • Fainting

These examples are not a complete list. If something feels wrong to you and it is not listed here, that is still a reason to call.

Most services give a number to use outside normal hours. If you do not have it, the number on your discharge paperwork or on the service's own website is the place to look.

What this page cannot tell you

It cannot tell you how serious your situation is. It cannot tell you whether what you are experiencing is expected. It cannot tell you that you are fine.

There is no symptom checker here and there never will be, because a checklist cannot examine anyone, and a reassuring answer from a website is the most dangerous thing this site could produce.

If you go to an emergency department

  • Take any medicines you have been given, or a photograph of the packaging, if you can do so easily.
  • Tell the clinical team which medicines or procedure you had and when. Emergency treatment for bleeding, pain, and infection is the same regardless, and being accurate helps them treat you.
  • If you have concerns about privacy or about your legal situation, the Repro Legal Helpline offers free, confidential legal advice. Do not delay emergency medical help while you look into that. This site does not give legal advice and cannot tell you what the law is where you are.

Other urgent situations

  • Emotional crisis. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline answers calls and texts. It is a general crisis service, not an abortion information line.
  • Someone is controlling your reproductive decisions, or you are not safe. The National Domestic Violence Hotline has confidential support and information on reproductive coercion.
  • Sexual assault. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline.

After the urgency has passed

When you are no longer worried about an immediate problem, the safety page explains the difference between a common effect and a complication, and the recovery page covers what usually happens over the days and weeks afterwards.

A useful next step

Call your clinician or emergency services

Sources

Each entry states what the source supports on this page and what it cannot support. Where a source and this page disagree, read the source.

  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Primary source

    Ectopic Pregnancy frequently asked questions (opens www.acog.org)

    Publisher date
    Published April 2020, last reviewed April 2026
    Checked by this publication
    What it supports here
    Supports the description of ectopic pregnancy, the warning signs listed in the emergency panel, and the statement that abortion medication does not treat an ectopic pregnancy.
    What it cannot support
    Describes signs that can occur. It does not allow anyone, including this site, to rule an ectopic pregnancy in or out without clinical evaluation.

  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Primary source

    Abortion Care frequently asked questions (opens www.acog.org)

    Publisher date
    Last updated October 2022, last reviewed May 2026
    Checked by this publication
    What it supports here
    Supports patient-facing descriptions of medication and procedural abortion, what an appointment can involve, general recovery expectations, and when a patient should contact a clinician.
    What it cannot support
    Patient education for a United States audience. It describes usual practice rather than what any specific clinic offers, and it does not replace the instructions a treating clinician gives.

  • United States National 911 Program Government or professional source

    Calling 911 (opens www.911.gov)

    Publisher date
    Not stated by the publisher at the last check
    Checked by this publication
    What it supports here
    Supports the emergency panel instruction to call 911 and the plain description of what happens when a call is placed.
    What it cannot support
    Describes the United States emergency number only and does not apply outside the United States. The publisher blocks automated requests, so this link is confirmed by a person at each release.

  • 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Government or professional source

    988 Lifeline (opens 988lifeline.org)

    Publisher date
    Not stated by the publisher at the last check
    Checked by this publication
    What it supports here
    Used only to route a reader in emotional crisis to a crisis line. It is never presented as abortion counseling.
    What it cannot support
    A general crisis service. It does not provide abortion information, referrals, or clinical advice.
  • Abortion safety and risks

    What the evidence says about abortion safety, the conditions attached to those statements, and the difference between a common effect and a complication.

  • What to expect after an abortion

    General recovery information on bleeding, cramping, feelings, follow-up, and activity, with a clear line between an expected effect and a reason to call.

Change history

Every material change to this page is dated here. Typo fixes that do not change meaning are not listed and do not move the update date.

  1. Editorial change. Made urgent instructions more specific about medicines, procedures, providers, and emergency medical help.
  2. Published. First publication of the urgent-help routing page, written from ACOG guidance and current emergency service information.

Found something wrong

If a fact, a date, a source link, or a definition on this page is wrong or out of date, the corrections process explains how to report it and what happens next. Substantive corrections are logged in public with a date. You can also write to corrections@abortionprocedure.com.