Room 519-B | Spanish Presentations Tuesday, July 12, 2005 Time: 8:30 AM-10:30 AM |
Weeping and sadness post-abortion: spontaneous or induced?
Polanco, Lucila *,1, Canto, Thelma1, Ruiz, Sandra1, Ordonez, Manuel1, 1 Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
ABSTRACT- Introduction.-For decades various techniques have been used to estimate the number of clandestine abortions, and although some of them have proven more reliable than others, a truly precise method has not been found, due to multiple reasons such as the stigma of the woman who undergoes an abortion, and the fear of legal punishment. Objectives.-We attempted to find out in an indirect manner the origin of abortions that concluded with a uterine sanitation procedure performed in a hospital. This was achieved by means of interviews with the women who were admitted for an ongoing abortion at the Hospital Materno Infantil in Merida, Yucatan, over a period of 6 months. Methods and Materials.-The interviews focused on the feelings brought to mind by the termination of pregnancy, and it was remarkable to find how reluctant the women were to comment openly on their experience with an induced abortion, or to acknowledge the existence of places where this process was carried out. Above all, they avoided making the link between their case and any voluntary or induced manipulation. Results.-A large percentage of these women presented weeping as a first reaction or symptom after an abortion. Sadness was also referred by nearly all of the participants. Thus, the following question arose: Can weeping and sadness be considered as feelings of guilt or repent, or should they be regarded as an attitude of loss (assuming a spontaneous abortion)? Doubts increased when one of the studied women was identified by us as having expressed her intention of having an abortion during a visit to our Family Planning Clinic, a few days earlier, but who was part of the majority who cried and was sad after the uterine cleaning process. Conclusions.-We believe our results are in agreement with the reasons found in other studies for the reduced figures for induced abortions. These causes include fear of possible legal consequences, ethical, moral, religious, and social discrimination, and may discourage women to admit that they have chosen a voluntary abortion. Only after transvaginal bleeding and pain have started do they go to the health center. However, no major complication or death was encountered for this reason.
Key words: abortion, induced, spontaneous, feelings, sadness