[Margaret Pilkington]

Slinky and Willow.....if you suffered miscarriages I might have looked after you. Looking after women who wanted babies and those who didn't was always a contentious issue. What I would say to you both is that you were given the treatment that you needed....as were the women who wanted abortions. People used to ask me how I could work in such an environment and I used to tell them it was easy really......any one of us could be in the situation of being unhappily pregnant........and I felt that I could give help to both situations. I always gave contraceptive advice and information.......it was much harder if the girls came back for a second termination......they would say that they hadn't been given any condoms/pills/information/advice etc........I would flick back in their notes and show them where I had documented exactly what advice and contraception was given. That would stop them in their tracks......I would also explain very graphically that pregnancy wasn't the worst thing that could happen to them...I would outline the risks of STI's. HIV, Hepatitis, Genital Herpes and cervical cancer. I'm sure that some of them left feeling pretty scared, although it wasn't really my aim to scare anyone. I DO feel that without all the information you cannot make a realistic choice about sexual health. I also would point out that there is no such thing as safe sex.......only safER sex.

In relation to the women who lost babies through miscarriage, I, and my colleagues worked tirelessly to get information and support......I was instrumental in the provision of a memorial book and wrote the entries and provided parents with a copy of their own entry.......we wanted a memorial garden and eventually we were successful in getting that.
Women who had late miscarriages were given footprints, hand prints and photographs if this is what they wanted. I am sure that there were women who we couldn't help, but it was not for the want of trying.

And the women who opted for termination of pregnancy.......well, I think they just swopped one set of problems for another. Remember, they have to live for the rest of their lives with the guilt of what they have done......and even those women whose first initial reaction to ending a pregnancy is relief.......I think they MUST think about what they did throughout their lives.