Family Life Education II

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Welcome to class! 

In today’s class, we will be talking more about family life education. Enjoy the class!

Family Life Education II

Abortion

It is the intentional termination or ending of pregnancy by removing the embryo before it can survive outside the uterus. Abortion is said to be a miscarriage, if it occurs spontaneously, i.e. unintentional. Infections, diabetes, chronic ulcer, vascular diseases, etc can cause miscarriage.

Types of abortion

There are two major types of abortion, which are:

1. Medication abortion
2. Surgical abortion

•  Medication abortion:

Medication abortion is a type of abortion that does not require any surgery but rely solely on medication (pills) for pregnancy abortion. This type of abortion is mostly done at home and does not require any anaesthesia or sedative.

• Surgical abortion:

It is a type of abortion that requires minor surgery, which involves the use of sedatives and anaesthetics. Surgical abortions are mostly done in clinics or hospital. There are two types of surgical abortions:

1. Vacuum aspiration: Vacuum aspiration is the removal of pregnancy by suction.
2. Dilation and evacuation: Dilation and Evacuation is the termination of pregnancy by using surgical instruments such as forceps.

Reasons for abortion

Generally, most of the reasons for a woman to opt for abortion are always personal. Some of these reasons may be:

1. Financial instability: Some women opt for abortion due to their financial instability, e.g. low income, poverty, etc. to raise and cater for the child.
2.  Lack of parental support: Lack of parental support might make a teenager feel stressed and be put under pressure. This might leave her with no choice than to opt for an abortion.
3. Societal acceptance: A lot of social stigmas is associated with woman pregnancy most especially among teenagers that got pregnant out of wedlock. To avoid all these social stigmas, she might choose to abort the pregnancy.
4. If the pregnancy occurs as a result of crime, e.g. rape, incest, abduction, etc.
5. Some women opt for abortion to protect their career.
6. Unwillingness to be a single mother may also be a reason.
7. Due to several health statuses, e.g., mental problem.

Unsafe abortion and consequences

Unsafe abortion is the termination of pregnancy by unqualified medical personnel. Example include the use of high dose medication, use of dangerous herbal mixture, insertion of sharp objects into the uterus, etc. Consequences of unsafe abortion from woman to woman. Some of the consequences of unsafe abortion are:

1. Emotional and psychological effects: Most of the females that undergo unsafe abortion are vulnerable to emotional and psychological distress, which mostly harm their lives. Example of such distress includes sadness, depression, guilt, anxiety, regret, etc.
2. Physical effects: woman usually experiences physical effect after having an unsafe abortion. Some of the physical effects experienced by a woman include the following:

• Damage to the organ
• Heavy or persistent bleeding.
• Damage to the cervix
• Severe abdominal pain
• Foul-smelling discharge
• Death

Ways of preventing abortion

Some of the ways of preventing abortion include the following:

1. Counselling centres: Counselling centres will provide accurate and unbiased advice about the options of a woman on abortion issues without pressure or judgement.
2. Educating the public about the consequences of abortion.
3. The government should enact laws that restrict abortion.
4. Abstinence from sex is a good way to prevent an unwanted pregnancy to prevent abortion.

Where to get help

One of the most effective ways to deal with an unwanted pregnancy is to seek the opinion of a well-trained abortion counsellor. Counselling needs to be factual, unbiased, supportive and non-Judgmental regardless of the circumstances. Some of the purposes to seek the opinion of a well-trained abortion counsellor is:

• To help the victim in making a proper and effective decision about abortion.
• Help the victim to control emotional and psychological feelings.
• To help the victim implement the decision

Seeking support from a healthcare professional is also a very good and effective way to seek help. Healthcare professional (medical doctor) will be able to take the victim through her options, which can include keeping the baby or having an abortion.

 

In our next class, we will be talking about Radio-Activity.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

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