COUNSELLING THE PATIENT WITH THE UNPLANNED PREGNANCY – ABORTION
Miss F. was a West Indian aged 25. The decision for abortion had initially seemed straightforward. She intended to go to college later that year and a baby would prevent this. On the pre-operative round the doctor usually asks the patient if she is still sure about going ahead with the procedure. To her surprise this patient replied, ‘No, I’m not.’ It was suggested that she should not go ahead that day but make another appointment to see the doctor in the outpatient clinic. The nursing staff seemed pleased – a baby saved and a woman rescued in the nick of time (Potts er a/., 1977). Miss F. came back the next week. She had changed her mind because she had talked to her boyfriend who wanted her to have the baby and had made her feel guilty about having an abortion. However, he was unreliable, beat her up sometimes and was unlikely to modify his own life on the arrival of a baby. College was her chance to get away and make something of herself. She had her abortion the following week.
This woman changed her mind about abortion out of guilt rather than desire to have a baby. The guilt came from her boyfriend who seemed keen to keep her dependent on him. There were also cultural pressures as in her community it was more usual for girls to have babies than to go to college. She wanted to do something for herself and having a baby might have jeopardized her chances. Yet it would have been easy to believe at first that continuing the pregnancy would have been a good outcome.
*89/197/1*
