Why you should seek counselling before opting for abortion — Gynaecologist

An obstetrics and gynaecology consultant, Dr Talemoh Wycliffe Dah, has advised women to seek proper counselling before going for abortion. He said doing so would ensure they knew what they have decided, and the likelihood of a change of mind would be less. He said, “Counseling by a trained person is helpful to all cases […]

An obstetrics and gynaecology consultant, Dr Talemoh Wycliffe Dah, has advised women to seek proper counselling before going for abortion.

He said doing so would ensure they knew what they have decided, and the likelihood of a change of mind would be less.

He said, “Counseling by a trained person is helpful to all cases of unwanted pregnancies.”

Dr Dah said abortion could be reversed depending on the method used and age of the pregnancy. 

He said, “People make decisions based on the facts and emotions they have at any given time. These may include refusal of partner to take responsibility, insistence of husband that she must abort the pregnancy, job requirements, school policies, etc.  

“If these facts and emotions change during the abortion process, the woman may change her mind before it becomes irreversible. Sometimes the method fails to achieve the abortion and the woman changes her mind after that. 

“About 10 to 20% of all pregnancies will miscarry naturally. Depending on the cause, medical personnel have for decades tried (many times successfully) to prevent or reverse the process. 

“In the earlier times, some of the medications have led to the development of anomalies in the surviving babies.”

While saying that reversal cannot be achieved in 100 per cent of cases, he said those that are salvaged may develop anomalies “because they were meant to be because of the genetic makeup or because of the medications that were used for abortion ab initio which may not be the scientifically tested ones.”