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Ending a pregnancy for fetal abnormality

People's stories

3-4 years since pregnancy ended

Interview 30

Interview 30

Age at Interview: 34
Sex: Female
Background: Pregnancy ended in 2002. No of children at time of interview: 2 + [1]. Ages of other children: 4, 1. Occupations: Mother - nurse, Father - building company director. Marital status: long-term partnership. Ethnic background: White British.

Brief outline:Her 2nd pregnancy: felt unwell and sick throughout pregnancy, some bleeding at 6 weeks. 11-week scan confirmed viability. 20-week scan detected heart abnormalities. Specialist scan identified tricuspid atresia and ventricular septal defect. Pregnancy ended by induction at 22 weeks. She has had another child since termination.

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She felt extremely sick in her pregnancy (her baby had ventricular septal defects) and thought something was wrong even though friends said it meant the baby was thriving.
Print I knew when I conceived - we'd gone away for the weekend which was lovely very happy. We went for a scan about 11 weeks, but when I was 6 weeks pregnant I had a bleed and went to the doctors. She reassured me that it was okay. There didn't seem to be any problems. Felt absolutely dreadful - felt very tired, very sick. I was being sick physically 2 or 3 times a day, and inside I felt that something wasn't quite right. Lots of people were saying, 'Well you're being sick that's a good sign. The baby's getting everything it needs,' but I knew inside that something wasn't quite right. We had the 11-week scan, and on the pictures everything looked okay. It was too early for them to see if there was a problem, and with the scan at my local hospital they wouldn't have been able to pick it up anyway. So everything progressed, and everybody was saying, 'Oh well, the second baby you'll be able to feel movements a lot earlier than you would in your first pregnancy'. But I never felt the baby move - maybe once a day and that was when I was coming up for 18 weeks I think - when most people said you should be feeling things by now. But I just felt unwell and ill, and I didn't feel that things were right.

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