Taking abortion pills can be traumatic, particularly when a woman performs her own abortion at home. The physical pain can be difficult for some women to cope with. However, seeing the recognisable form of a dead baby is devastating for many women.

This is how one woman described her experience: ‘It was very hard when a big lump came out when I was in the shower. I had not understood that it would be so obvious when the embryo came, had a shock. Felt like pushing. Did not know what to do with the lump, would have wanted information before about how it can be and what to do with the embryo. The pain, you can take, the hard part was to see the embryo.”

In a Scottish study of women’s experiences of medical abortion, some women returned home immediately after taking the second abortion pill, rather than staying in the clinic.

Different women spoke of:

• “agony”
• “such a physical and emotional process”
• “day was absolutely horrific”
• “I bled so much … it’s pouring out”
• “in hindsight I wished I hadn’t looked but I did, and that was probably the most traumatic thing I’ve ever seen or done”
• “if [my friend had] been there and seen me screaming like that…”