Having just gone through the process of a medical abortion in Ireland, I’ve decided to share my experience, in the hope that it may help reassure others in a similar situation. Most of the stories I read online were from women in the UK, with very little information available on the procedures within the Irish system.
I’ll start by saying that I’m 25, in a very happy relationship for the past 5.5 years and I’d be lying if I said this was an totally unwanted pregnancy but due to financial circumstances and living arrangements caused by the housing crisis in this country, I felt I wasn’t in a good position to bring a baby into the world. It was a difficult decision to make but I felt it was a selfless one in the grand scheme of things. I hope that when the time is right, I’ll be able to give a baby the life and home they deserve.
I made the call to the HSE MyOptions helpline when I was 7.5 weeks. It was a fairly straightforward process, I was given the contact details of a few GPs in my area who offer the medical abortion service. It can be done up to 9 weeks through a GP and from 9-12 weeks it’s done in a hospital as a day patient but still through medication, not surgically, as far as I know. Once I found a GP who could fit me in, I had a brief phone consultation with her and was given an appointment to come see her in person and take the first dose of medication (after the mandatory 3 day ‘waiting period’). At no point in our conversation did I feel interrogated, she was kind and compassionate but it was all very matter of fact and to the point, just an outline of what medication would need to be taken, possible side effects etc.
On the day of the appointment (I was 8wks 4 days at this point) I took some Motilium one hour before to help prevent nausea or vomiting as it’s very important that the first medication (Mifepristone) is fully absorbed. I was given the single tablet of Mifepristone to take in front of the doctor and took home the Misoprostol tablets to take 24-48 hrs later, along with a low sensitivity pregnancy test to ensure it had worked. I experienced very light cramping and spotting in the hours after taking the Mifepristone but thankfully wasn’t sick.
24hrs later, I prepared to take the Misoprostol, which in my case, were two tablets, one placed on each side of my mouth between the cheek and gum, left to dissolve for 30 mins. Just before doing so, I took some Buscopan to help with the cramping, Nurofen and Solpadeine for the pain. Within 30 mins of the tablets dissolving, cramping and bleeding began. The pain was significant but manageable with a hot water bottle and painkillers every 3-4 hours. I moved between my bed and the bathroom as when I felt a clot coming, there was an urge to just let it pass in the toilet without seeing anything. The sensation of passing the first large clot was strange but not painful and after that, I got used to the feeling. The entire process of passing the pregnancy itself lasted around 6 hours, having taken the Misoprostol at 4pm. I distracted myself as best I could with Netflix and managed to sleep straight through from midnight until 8am the next morning.
Bleeding was very heavy for the first 48hrs, even with a towel under me I did stain the bed a little that first night but after that, the bleeding just remained as a heavy period for about a week. After that, it slowly began to taper off and today, 14 days later, it’s not much more than the bleeding experienced at the very end of a period.
In terms of pregnancy symptoms, my nausea disappeared almost immediately, it actually started to go away soon after taking the Mifepristone, as this is what stops the pregnancy from continuing. Breast tenderness remained for a few days but disappeared within a week.
Today I took the low-sensitivity pregnancy test given by the GP to ensure the pregnancy had fully passed and no tissue was remaining and thankfully it was negative. My GP advised me that if it was still positive, I would have had to repeat the procedure in hospital but as I’d still be under 12 weeks, it could be done legally in Ireland.
All in all, it was an emotionally and physically draining experience, the process itself is a bit of blur but it was manageable and not nearly as terrifying as some of the accounts you may read online. I know that is just my experience and everyone will experience it differently but I wanted to share it in the hopes it may reassure others in the process of making that difficult decision, particularly women in Ireland, where information online is still quite limited and somewhat difficult to find.
If anyone would like to reach out to me with any questions about my experience or the process itself, I’m happy to answer them.
Grá mná