We appreciate the support you are showing your partner as they face a difficult decision. At this time we will allow one support person in the building per patient.

If you can not make it to the appointment, we have highly trained, compassionate and caring staff to support your friend or partner the entire time they are here for their appointment.

For the in-office abortion procedure the total time of the appointment will be between 4 and 5 hours. There is often a break when the patient can go out to get some fresh air or have a snack at one of the nearby food locations.

For the medication abortion the total time of the appointment will be around 2 hours.

The following information will give you an overview of your partner’s appointment:

• The first step for your companion will be lab work. Following lab work, they will have an ultrasound to accurately date the pregnancy.
• Next they will meet with a counselor who will spend time with them privately to review their medical history, discuss the procedure, post-procedure instructions, birth control, and general feelings about the pregnancy, and the decision to terminate. This session usually takes between 30-60 minutes. If your partner chooses you may be asked to join the end of the session to hear information your partner feels is important for you to know. 
• For the in-office procedure there may be a break after counseling of between 30 minutes to an hour. If the nurse has given your partner medication, they may need to wait for up to an hour for that medication to work. For medication abortion they will take the first medication (Mifeprex) and be sent home with the second medication (Misoprostol) to take 24-48 hours later to start the abortion process. At this point medication abortion patients will schedule their follow up appointment and can leave. 
• For in-office procedure, after the break, your partner will go upstairs where they will change into a gown and wait in a waiting room.
• In the procedure room, your companion will experience some cramping during the procedure, as the cervix is slightly dilated and the contents of the uterus removed by vacuum aspiration. You may hold your partners hand and/or comfort them. Your partner will have a trained staff member as a support person as well. 
• When the procedure is completed, your partner will walk down the hall to the recovery room, where we will ask them to rest for 20 to 30 minutes while we monitor vital signs (blood pressure & pulse), give prescriptions, and make sure they are feeling well. Most people leave the center with light bleeding and mild cramps, if any.

We want to acknowledge and thank you for being supportive of your companion, partner and/or friend. Please be sure to let us know if we can help you in any way.