What Comes in an At-Home Abortion Kit?

If you are receiving early abortion care, you will likely be offered the abortion pills option, which, if you meet the requirements for it, can be completed at home with the NUPAS pills-by-post service.  

To qualify for this treatment, you must have a consultation with us, where we’ll assess the best option for you. An early medical abortion is available up until 10 weeks and 0 days of pregnancy, with a surgical option available for no later than 23 weeks and 6 days. 

When will I receive My At- Home Abortion Kit? 

Once you’ve had your telephone consultation with NUPAS, you should receive your pills by post within the next few days. We use a reliable third-party courier as your treatment is time-sensitive.   

What You Get in a Pills By Post Abortion Kit

If you meet the criteria for an at-home abortion with our pills by post service, NUPAS will send you a discreet at-home abortion kit that fits through your letterbox. The contents of your pack will contain everything needed to complete a medical abortion in the comfort of your own home. Here’s a list of what will be included: 

• 1 Mifepristone Pill 

• 4 Misoprostol Pills (+2 additional if needed) 

• Codeine Phosphate tablets (if appropriate, for your pain relief) 

• Information booklet and guide 

• Pregnancy test (a special post-abortion test different to most pregnancy tests) 

• Condoms (if requested) 

How to Use an At-Home Abortion Kit 

Your step-by-step abortion information booklet will detail how and when to take your medication and symptoms to look out for. This will also be discussed in your consultation, though, and any questions you have can be asked then, or you can call us for support during the process. 

To read more on how to take the abortion pills, see here. 

It is important to use the provided pregnancy test 3 weeks after your abortion, as this will confirm if the termination was successful. This pregnancy test is unlike ordinary shop-bought ones, as low levels of pregnancy hormones can remain in your system for as long as 2 months. An ordinary test can detect this and give an inaccurate result, which is why we provide  

How a Medical Abortion At Home Works

First, you take one Mifepristone tablet, wait for one to two days, and then take misoprostol, which may come as tablets that dissolve in your mouth or are inserted into your vagina. Within 4 to 6 hours after taking the second medication, the pregnancy should start to pass through the vagina. If the pregnancy is not fully expelled, an additional dose of misoprostol may be needed, which should be discussed with a doctor or nurse. 

Let them dissolve for 30 minutes, then swallow any remaining pieces with water or another liquid. 

Bleeding usually begins around 2 hours after taking the second pills. There will also be some pain and cramping. Most people will not bleed after taking the first pill. The abortion usually takes place between 2 – 12 hours after taking the second pills. Read more here about how abortions work. 

Disposing of Your At-Home Abortion Kit 

Any leftover medication (such as the additional misoprostol, if not used) must be handed over to healthcare professionals for proper disposal. You can hand these into local pharmacies, send them back to NUPAS or your GP.  If you don’t want your kit to go into your bins or recycling, then this can also be handed into a local pharmacy. 

Using the Pregnancy Test in Your At-Home Abortion Kit

This step is important to confirm whether the abortion was successful and you are no longer pregnant. We advise that this is used 3 weeks after your abortion to test for pregnancy hormones (HCG). 

This pregnancy test is different to other shop-bought tests as it isn’t as sensitive, so it won’t pick up leftover hormones that might still be in your system a few weeks later. A negative result will confirm the abortion worked as expected, but if it’s positive, you should get in touch with NUPAS.  

Before using the test, make sure you read the instructions in the packet to establish the most effective results. If you use this test a few days after the abortion, the result will likely be inaccurate due to the hormones still in your body.