When I was eighteen, I was convinced I was pregnant. I was in a coercive relationship with a much older man and the thing that frightened me the most was what my parents would say. They were extremely strict and authoritarian and I had had the Ten Commandments rammed down my throat from birth.
Read MoreI was talking on BBC Radio Sheffield when a man phoned in, "Why did you write this guidebook on abortion choices ; it should have been written by a woman." My mind flashed back to the years as a family doctor meeting women thinking of ending their pregnancy. "I wish it had been a woman," I said. The only other book I found was unsafe for the woman.
Read MoreA pregnancy decision can be one of the most challenging moments of a person’s life. The pressures can be overwhelming for those choosing between carrying their babies to term or terminating. The promise of an easy fix is enticing. And there are often time, relational, and financial pressures that move the choice forward quickly.
Read MoreRecently, I chatted with a female doctor who used abortion as a student. She argued that legal abortion should be available for a woman’s safety – until she read our handy guide, Pregnancy and Abortion: A Practical Guide to Making Decisions. Like her, many assume that ‘legal abortion’ means it’s safe – safer than having a baby.
Read MoreThe reversal of Roe versus Wade raises a huge question: is legal abortion a threat to a woman’s life or just like you “get your bunions done”? Sadly, women die during abortion and also years after from abortion complications. Few know more about this than gynaecologist Dr Donna Harrison MD., from Michigan, USA.
Read MoreThere’s something about the question that resonates deeply in me. Did I know what was ahead of me when I embarked on another pregnancy – when my first son had been conceived and born without a hitch? Had I any idea of the depths of despair I was about to enter when everyone else around me would soon be passing round their baby photos?
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Today in Britain we had our first death from the omicron variant. The NHS website has crashed from enquiries and vaccine booster centres are overwhelmed with long queues. Worldwide, the US first, then Germany, UK, France and Russia have the most new cases.
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"Doctor if only I could sleep," I used to hear so often as a family doctor. In my experience sleep problems are one of the nastiest forms of silent suffering. Thankfully, seven simple steps can change matters quickly. "Our fully charged calendars and occupied minds mean sleep is being referred to as a new luxury item," said sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, even before the pandemic.
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For many years I worked closely with Merton Women's Aid in London as a GP (family physician); so I have good reason to consider it tragic that the UK Government may enshrine in law the emergency COVID-19 measure, brought in last year, allowing ‘DIY abortion’ – also known as chemical abortion or Pill abortion – at home on request by phone.
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Tips when Fostering older children during a pandemic. ‘Tatenda[1] arrived on the eve of lockdown, a 17-year-old teenager out of control, late night partying, doing drugs and oblivious to any constraint. A Covid-19 liability. We had raced to London to get him. He had no warning but got in the car and came with us, effective strangers, believing his punishment was unfair.’
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"My ante-natal scan suggests a major problem," is heartrending news – whether it's your patient, partner or daughter. Reaching for abortion facts and checking risks of abortion is a common next move. You may be asked by a woman or couple – should we screen or not screen before birth? Now a Polish court has banned abortion for any foetal disability however severe, see here. So, I asked Lois Bunyan to help with the screening dilemma.
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In my past clinical experience, most abusive men tried to coerce women who want to keep their child, into having an abortion they did not want. Making abortions easier with pills in the post will be a real gift to abusers…
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Contraceptives are what people use when they wish to have sex, but to avoid pregnancy. There are several different types of contraceptive. Different contraceptives have different rates of effectiveness at preventing pregnancy.
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Confused? You are not alone! A survey of obstetrician-gynaecologists in the US in 2010 found that over half (57%) would define pregnancy at conception. Fewer (28%) defined it, as the College does, at the point of implantation [1], 16% were not sure [2].
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Conception and fertilization are interchangeable terms that describe when a sperm and an egg meet and fuse to form a new organism. Natural fertilization happens during sexual intercourse when a man ejaculates semen, containing sperm, into a woman’s vagina.
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The Covid-19 pandemic has swiftly swept the world into its grip. It has forced countries to a standstill and is stretching health services to their limits. Research from the Guttmacher Institute suggests that the pandemic is placing all areas of health at risk and has ‘major implications for people’s reproductive priorities and actions’ [1].
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For several decades arguments have gone back and forth as to whether induced abortion (termination of pregnancy) has any negative effects. In all of this, one aspect of scientific evidence has been missing - pre-clinical data.
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Can a foetus feel pain at abortion? It’s a question many are asking in the UK and USA and causes anxiety in women considering an abortion [1,2]. The medical establishment in the UK is beginning to take steps to address foetal pain, even during an abortion procedure.
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If you’ve just found out that you’re pregnant and you didn’t expect to be, you probably have many questions. This can be confusing, even scary. The time to make decisions feels short so you might feel pressure to make a decision fast. You deserve the best tools for decision making…
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