A surgical abortion at 7 weeks and 4 days at Victoria Infirmary Hospital in Glasgow

I had a surgical abortion 2 days ago at 7+4. I had it at the new Victoria Infirmary hospital in Glasgow. I have two children already and my husband and I didn't want anymore even though we considered it a lot when I first found out. In the end, we decided that this was best.

[If you'd like to read about other experiences of abortion then head over to this page for links organised by aspects of abortion such as e.g. the type of procedure or the gestation period etc.]

I was terribly nervous in the morning and went alone and left my kids at home with my husband. There were another 7 girls getting the same procedure that day. None of them was crying or extremely upset. I was at the day surgery unit and checked in at 11 am.

They told me to put on the hospital gown and gave me a pad and some disposable pants. They gave me two tablets to place under my tongue. They took about one hour to dissolve. I sat on the chair next to my bed and read my book until 1.15 when the nurse came and got me and took me round to the theatre.

I took off my dressing gown and slippers and popped on to the bed. One nurse put monitors on my chest and the other put a canula in my hand. It stung a little but wasn't sore. She then put a painkiller and the anaesthetic through the cannula. This was a little stingy.

The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery. I was a little weepy but I know I did the right thing. They took me back to the ward and I had some tea and a sandwich.

The nurse came back checked that my bleeding was ok then said I could go home around half past 3. I had to call someone to pick me up because I had a general anaesthetic so I couldn't go home alone. I had moderate bleeding that day and haven't been bleeding yesterday or today.

I definitely think that surgical seems better compared to the medical as it's a lot less traumatic. I opted for the surgical because I didn't want to see the baby and I know that a lot of people do see it when having a medical abortion.

Thank you for reading my story. I thought I would share it and let people know that although it's not a nice thing to do that it's not as bad as some people make out. The nursing staff are lovely and everything is really private.