Combatting Misinformation On Herbal Abortions
Even social media posts reacting to misinformation may further spread those falsities, rather than raise awareness about safe abortion options, according to Nina Reddy, the outreach coordinator for Access Reproductive Care Southeast. The organization provides funding and support to people in the South who are seeking abortions or other womens health services.
Reddy said local organizations like hers still plan to aid people in getting safe abortions, even those living in states with bans, by helping them secure funding, transportation and escort services.
If the common narrative out there is that the first resort if Roe is gutted for a person to have an abortion is to harm themselves and have an unsafe abortion, then its going to set us back years and years, Reddy said. Its so important to get information out there.
Even though shes devoted her career to alternative herbal remedies, James also said she doesnt want anyone to think its appropriate or safe to use herbs for abortions.
We need chemical and medical abortions available because these herbs wont do it, she said.
TikTok, where some videos on the topic have racked up millions of views, has blocked several hashtags related to herbal abortions in the last two weeks.
Already, as of Friday, many of the videos that contained these hashtags had been removed.
What Are The Other Options Of Abortion
Given that vitamin C supplementation to prevent pregnancy lacks evidence, you may consider other conventional options of abortion after consulting with your OB-GYN. These include medical abortion and surgical abortion.
Medical abortion involves the administration of abortion pills. It is a course of two abortion pills, namely, mifepristone and misoprostol, taken in a specific order. The misoprostol is a pack of six tablets and should be taken after the first pill, mifepristone.
In the case of surgical abortion, it may either be a vacuum aspiration or dilation and evacuation method. In the first procedure, a suction device inserted through the dilated cervix is used to empty the uterus. For the dilation and evacuation method, the process is similar to vacuum aspiration, except other medical instruments and the suction are used to empty the uterus from remaining pregnancy tissues .
Vegetarian Vegan And Special Diets In Pregnancy
A varied and balanced vegetarian diet should provide enough nutrients for you and your baby during pregnancy.
But you might find it more difficult to get enough iron and vitamin B12.
Talk to a midwife or doctor about how to make sure youre getting enough of these important nutrients.
If youre vegan or you follow a restricted diet because of a food intolerance or for religious reasons, talk to a midwife or GP.
Ask to be referred to a dietitian for advice on how to make sure youre getting all the nutrients you need for you and your baby.
Find out more about healthy eating if youre pregnant and vegetarian or vegan.
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Vitamin C: How Much Is Too Much During Pregnancy
If Vitamin C is taken in mega doses during pregnancy, it can theoretically have a negative effect on the pregnancy and the developing baby.
Vitamin C is perfect for keeping the immune system healthy. When pregnant, the RDA is 85 mg per day, and vitamin C supplementation is safe up to 2,000 mg. All vitamin C supplements should be approved by the doctor/midwife before adding it to your daily vitamin regime.
Some people use multivitamins that contain very high amounts of vitamin C, which are not considered safe during pregnancy. The best vitamin supplement during pregnancy is one that’s specifically designed for pregnant women and contains just the right amount of vitamins.
You should also take into consideration the foods that you are consuming which contain vitamin C. Some people find levels as little as 500 mg a day can cause severe gastrointestinal discomfort, cramping, and diarrhea. If this is the case, either the diet will need to be adjusted or the prenatal vitamin will need to be changed. Diarrhea during pregnancy can lead to dehydration, which can pose a huge threat to baby and health risks to mom.
If mom gets dehydrated during pregnancy, the amniotic fluid level will decrease. The amniotic fluid is the lifeline for baby. Without this fluid, the baby will not gestate to term. Dehydration can also cause nausea which can lead to vomiting and even worse dehydration.
Read More:
Know What Recipe To Use And Where It Comes From
The concept of using vitamin C to cause a miscarriage came during the 1970s. An old recipe for inducing miscarriages using vitamin C can be found by reading A Womens Book of Choices, written by Rebecca Chalker and Carol Downer. The basic claim is that vitamin C is best successful at causing a miscarriage up to the fourth week of pregnancy. This is the time when you expect to get your period. It means taking vitamin C in high doses from the time you ovulate until you miss your period and then continuing to take it for up to two weeks later. If you dont start taking vitamin C until you have a positive pregnancy test at 4 weeks gestation, your chances of it causing a miscarriage go way down.
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How Much Vitamin C Do Pregnant Women Need
Pregnant women need more vitamin C than women who aren’t pregnant and breastfeeding women need even more.
Pregnant women ages 18 and younger: 80 milligrams per day
Pregnant women ages 19 and older: 85 mg per day
Breastfeeding women ages 18 and younger: 115 mg per day
Breastfeeding women ages 19 and older: 120 mg per day
Nonpregnant women ages 18 and younger: 65 mg per day
Nonpregnant women ages 19 and older: 75 mg per day
Vitamin C And Miscarriage
Most people believe that vitamin C is perfectly safe for you and that nothing will happen to you if you take vitamin C on a regular basis. The truth is, however, that vitamin C has the potential to affect your fertility and, in some parts of the world, vitamin C is used not only to prevent a pregnancy but to induce a spontaneous abortion or miscarriage.
While vitamin C doesnt have any scientific evidence as a remedy to induce a miscarriage, there are many women throughout the world who have used vitamin C in order to cause a spontaneous miscarriage. There is some evidence to suggest that it really does work so, if you are trying to get pregnant, you need to strongly consider not taking in any type of ascorbic acid supplement that could result in a problem with the pregnancy, such as a miscarriage.
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Vitamin C Can Be Combined With Parsley For Better Effectiveness
Using vitamin C to cause a miscarriage, even when it is used properly only results in about a 30-40 percent chance of working. If you are really trying to have a miscarriage, there are much better ways to go about it that have a greater chance of causing a miscarriage when compared to using vitamin C or vitamin C plus parsley.
How Many Women Induce Their Own Abortions
By Lynne Peeples, Reuters Health
4 Min Read
NEW YORK – While recent media reports have raised concerns over women inducing their own abortions, particularly with a cheap ulcer drug called misoprostol, a new study suggests that the practice may actually be relatively rare.
However, the reported one or two out of every 100 women having self-induced an abortion only reflects those subsequently seeing a doctor about it and, therefore, may underestimate the true rate of the risky abortion.
A majority of women having abortions are poor or low income, and many lack health insurance, researcher Rachel K. Jones of the New York City-based Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on sexual and reproductive health, told Reuters Health. So coming up with the money to pay for abortion services can be difficult if not impossible for many of them.
In 2005, 1.2 million abortions were performed in the U.S. The price tag in 2006 for a first trimester procedure was around $430 the average charge in the second trimester:
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Do You Need A Vitamin C Supplement During Pregnancy
There’s usually no need to take a separate supplement. You can easily get the vitamin C you need from fruits and vegetables, and your prenatal vitamins also contain vitamin C.
It’s not a good idea to take large doses of vitamin C when you’re pregnant. The maximum daily amount that’s considered safe is 1800 mg for women 18 and younger and 2000 mg for women 19 and over. Excessive vitamin C can upset your stomach, and more studies are needed to understand how these supplements could affect pregnancy outcomes.
BabyCenter’s editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. When creating and updating content, we rely on credible sources: respected health organizations, professional groups of doctors and other experts, and published studies in peer-reviewed journals. We believe you should always know the source of the information you’re seeing. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies.
ACOG. 2021. Nutrition during pregnancy. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
AND. 2021. How vitamin C supports a healthy immune system. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
LPI. 2018. Vitamin C. Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University.
Try Increasing Your Intake With These Vitamin C
- Porridge topped with sliced strawberries
- Sliced red peppers dipped in hummus
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Reasons For Attempting Sma
For some participants, perceived stigma about abortion combined with a desire for privacy influenced their decision to seek SMA as an alternative to facility-based care. One participant who was employed by the Navy explained that she had assumed that seeking abortion services through her employers health insurance was not an option and she did not feel comfortable asking for further information. When asked whether abortion services were available through the Navy, she replied:
I’ve never asked. But I don’t know of any of my friends throughout the years that I could have asked. And I didn’t really want to divulge that information and have to answer any questions. SoI kind of just left it alone. I was like, I’ll just deal with this on my own”
I didnt think they help me with the abortion. So I took it out on myself and just did some stuff on my own Because they just wanted me to carry the baby full term didnt really give me no options to be honest. I was telling her everything and the only thing that she was saying , well, it would be best if you could just carry the baby the full nine months
Having Both Low Folate And Vitamin B6 Increases The Risk Of Miscarriage Fourfold
Homocysteine, folate, and vitamins B6 and B12 concentrations were measured in plasma obtained before conception. Mean vitamin B6 concentration was lower in patients than in controls . In addition, the risk of miscarriage tended to increase with decreasing plasma vitamin B6 and folate concentration, although the signicance of these trends was further reduced in logistic models that included age, body mass index, and both vitamins. The risk of miscarriage was fourfold, higher among women with suboptimal plasma concentrations of both folate and vitamin B6 than in those with higher plasma concentrations of both vitamins . Homocysteine and vitamin B12 status were not associated with miscarriage risk.
Biotin: Biotin deciency is associated with insulin resistance, which is common in recurrent miscarriage.
Calcium: High blood levels are associated with increased risk of miscarriage.
Choline: Low choline levels reduce embryonic growth and cardiac development. Choline has also been shown to prevent birth defects.
Chromium: May improve insulin sensitivity in women with PCOS, although chromium picolinate has been shown to cause birth defects at high levels.
Folic acid: Low folate is associated with a 47% increased risk of miscarriage having both low folate and low vitamin B6 increase miscarriage risk by 310%. Folic acid may also reduce the risk for Down Syndrome.
Multivitamins: lowered the risk of miscarriage by 57% in one study.
Phosphorus: low in women who miscarry.
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Folic Acid Before And During Pregnancy
Its important to take a 400 micrograms folic acid tablet every day before youre pregnant and until youre 12 weeks pregnant.
Folic acid can help prevent birth defects known as neural tube defects, including spina bifida.
If you did not take folic acid before you conceived, you should start as soon as you find out youre pregnant.
Try to eat green leafy vegetables which contain folate and breakfast cereals and fat spreads with folic acid added to them.
Its difficult to get the amount of folate recommended for a healthy pregnancy from food alone, which is why its important to take a folic acid supplement.
Is There Scientific Evidence To Support Vitamin C Abortion
There is currently no clinical evidence supporting the use of vitamin C as a way to induce abortion. There is a lot of information online that can be found saying that it does work. Even so, most of these are just people promoting their opinions.
In one study, a group of 50 women who experienced spontaneous abortion was compared with another group of 50 women whose pregnancies ended peacefully. The researchers found that even though the levels of vitamin C were higher in the spontaneous abortion group later in the pregnancy, this was not enough evidence to conclude that the abortion was caused by vitamin C.
Its always important to remember that trying something like this is risking your health and the health of the baby. It makes a lot more sense to simply go with a method that is safe and proven effective.
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Common Rue As An Abortifacient Or Cause Of Miscarriage
Ruta graveolens is a shrub-like plant found in Mediterranean countries. This plant has been used in many countries, including England, France, and Brazil, to stimulate menstruation and induce abortion. When given by mouth to pregnant mice, Ruta graveolens caused embryo damage and fetal death. When used by humans, it is reported to cause abortion within a day of consumption, but it can also result in severe maternal toxicity including vomiting, liver damage, and anemia. In severe cases, tremors, respiratory distress, and death have occurred. Even though this plant is known for its toxic effects when used as an abortifacient, Ruta graveolens remains a common herbal medication used for pregnancy termination. In one study from South America, Ruta graveolens was the most commonly ingested herbal preparation used to induce abortion, but its use was also associated with life-threatening side effects including organ failure and death. The use of Ruta graveolens to induce abortion or miscarriage is not approved or recommended.
Herbal Remedies For Miscarriages
If you are trying to have a miscarriage, you need to know a few things about vitamin C and miscarriages. First of all, herbal remedies like the use of vitamin C should not be used as a method of birth control as it doesnt work all the time and you may find yourself pregnant when you didnt intend to be. Any type of herbal remedy for inducing a miscarriage should be done under a doctors supervision so that further methods of causing a miscarriage can be done if the vitamin C treatment doesnt work.
Vitamin C is generally considered to be nontoxic even in high doses however, there are people who have developed toxicity from taking excessive doses of vitamin C so you need to be aware of the signs of vitamin C toxicity and should take measures to avoid this type of toxicity.
If you are still set on using vitamin C to cause a miscarriage, there are some things you should take into consideration when trying to have a miscarriage using this remedy. If you are trying to avoid having a miscarriage, you still need to know about vitamin C and miscarriages.
Here are some things that make sense to know about regarding vitamin C and miscarriages:
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There May Be Unexpected Side Effects To Taking Vitamin C
Vitamin C may be a natural substance but that doesnt mean that you wont have any side effects from taking vitamin C or that it is completely safe to take. Common side effects of vitamin C consumption in high doses has the potential to cause insomnia, hemorrhaging, tiredness, headache, rashes, kidney stones, gas, constipation, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, and hot flashes.
How Nutrients Increase Your Chances Of Getting Pregnant
Eating certain foods and avoiding others has been medically proven to improve the ovulatory function of a woman and increase her chances of becoming pregnant. Of course, its not all about diet. There are other factors that can lower your chances of getting pregnant. Being overweight or underweight can lead to menstruation disorders, which can cause a woman to stop ovulating.
Below are some things to be aware of when thinking about diet and nutritional or vitamin supplements as you try for a baby.
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