Counselling during the procedure
Whether a patient chooses counselling or not, she will be assigned a support person to ensure she has sufficient information to make an informed decision about whether she still wants an abortion. After counselling, a patient may decide to continue with her pregnancy.
As part of the procedure at AMAC, a nurse/counsellor will check all required letters and test results and will initially interview the patient alone, in order to ensure that privacy regarding the abortion request and past medical history etc. is not breached. A medical and contraceptive history is taken from the patient, and the procedure and options explained.
The nurse/counsellor will need to ask some personal details in order to produce a written report for the two certifying consultants (doctors), to support the patient’s request for abortion. This part of the procedure can take from 30 – 60 minutes depending on the requirements of the individual patient. If the patient wants a partner or support person to accompany her during this session the nurse/counsellor will include that person as soon as privacy requirements have been established. Once this initial interview is complete, the nurse/counsellor will give the patient an appointment time to return to meet the operating doctor then the patient may leave the clinic for a light lunch.