“I was treated with care, dignity and respect. The health questions were more in depth and it was again agreed that I was a candidate for the at-home pills. It was explained in great detail how it all worked, what I should do and how long I had to do it.”
A client’s experience of a medical abortion at home after experiencing extreme sickness during their pregnancy.
“The attention, care and rapid response I received, I believe saved my life”
I just want to thank everyone here first and foremost. The attention, care and rapid response I received, I believe saved my life.
I had the at home abortion pills.
I was 7 weeks pregnant at the time. We initially decided we’d like to have another baby, until the severe sickness kicked in. I couldn’t keep a thing down. The GP was quite dismissive, and I couldn’t get through to my local referral for abortion.
I went to bed one day after work and slowly deteriorated, to the point I felt like I was dying. I hadn’t kept food or drink down in over a week.
After looking online, I came across MSI. I was unsure if they’d take me as a patient as I was out of their nearest local area, and unsure if I fell under NHS-funding* still as my GP had just handed me a number for my local hospital to self-refer – who I couldn’t get through to.
“The lady who spoke to me was fantastic. So caring.”
I filled in MSI’s online form. The next day I had an initial appointment arranged, for a Sunday!
The lady who spoke to me was fantastic. So caring. She asked what my reason was, and I explained that the sickness was so bad I thought it would kill me. She understood, and showed me empathy. She discussed how I was a candidate for the postal service (at-home medical abortion) and how it worked. This was the option I chose. She arranged my next appointment as soon as possible, as she knew how unwell I was. It was for the next day. I cried at this point. The relief when she explained it could be with me in a few days gave me hope.
The next day the nurse called, she apologised as she called 30 minutes into my time slot, like that was a bad thing. Honestly, the fact this was all happening so fast was the best thing. 30 minutes was nothing. Again, I was treated with care, dignity and respect. The health questions were more in-depth and it was again agreed that I was a candidate for the at-home pills. It was explained in great detail how it all worked, what I should do and how long I had to do it.
The pills arrived the next day. I cried. I’d been up all night with sickness and dehydration. I again thought I was dying, I called the GP but to no avail, I called 111 who wanted me to go into hospital, but the paramedics called back and told me I’d be ok and to wait to do my termination as that would fix it. Thankfully, it did.
I took my first pill as per the instructions given on the phone, (these were also included in the booklet that was emailed to me and included in the abortion pills pack. I then waited 24 hours, another harrowing night of severe sickness and illness, but I now knew the end was in sight.
I then proceeded to the second stage, inserting 4 pills in my vagina. I couldn’t take pain relief at this point as I was still being sick. I fell asleep and woke up a couple of hours later. I had period-like cramps. I felt I needed to pass a bowel movement, so I went to the toilet and felt a large piece of tissue pass, no pain, just like clotting with a period. I assumed this to be the pregnancy, but after the 3 hours I still used the last lot of pills. As my bleeding was quite light, I again inserted them inside my vagina. However, the instructions state that you can use these orally, placing them inside your gums too.
“This has been a very easy, very positive experience for me”
After 30 minutes lying down, I really needed to go to the toilet. I had a short burst of diarrhoea. I passed some more tissue and the cramps intensified.
The bleeding is steady. The sickness stopped almost instantly, and my partner commented on how I look well again. I’ve eaten and drunk.
This has been a very easy, very positive experience for me. I was given pain relief and offered contraception, although I have chosen to seek this from my GP.
Thank you all so much. I know the job can’t be easy as people can be in such turmoil when needing you, but I will be forever grateful. I think if I’d had to wait any longer, I would have been hospitalised, or worse.
Thank you. I wish there was more I could do or say, to show you how grateful I am. I cannot wait to get back to work, to get back to my life and to feel human again.
*98% of our abortion treatments in the UK are funded by the NHS. This means that there will be no cost to you for your abortion. Abortions can only be carried out under the care of a licensed clinic like MSI Reproductive Choices UK or an NHS hospital. For more information, please visit our NHS- funded abortion care page.
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