Had an abortion completely unnecessarily – the doctors are sharply criticized • “Feels hopeless”
IVO, the inspectorate for care and care, has investigated the case after “Sara” reported the care last year.
She became pregnant with the help of IVF treatment. But in the sixth week of pregnancy, she sought emergency care because of abdominal pain. A doctor, at a hospital in Skåne, carried out an ultrasound examination and concluded that the fetus was probably dead, and that Sara would come back for a new examination.
“The doctor could not see any fetus or yolk sac,” it says in IVO’s documents.
A few days later, Sara sought emergency care again. A new doctor performed an ultrasound examination, and came to the same conclusion – that the fetus was not alive.
– Then I said that I wanted treatment for missed miscarriages, because I thought it would help me psychologically to get rid of what was nothing, says Sara to TV4 Nyheterna.
The doctor in charge at Sara’s second visit decided to prescribe Cytotec, a uterine contraction drug, to force the body to expel the fetus.
The message a month later: The child is alive
Sara felt bad for a whole month afterwards, with nausea and other symptoms of pregnancy, she says. Then she chose to seek treatment again. Doctors conducted ultrasound examination again.
– And then both I, my husband and the doctor were in total shock, when we saw on the screen that it was a live fetus that was moving and had a beating heart, says Sara.
The news that the child was alive was initially happy news.
– We were overjoyed. But we were quickly overwhelmed by worry. We asked the doctor what it means for our fetus that I took Cytotec.
“The hardest decision of our lives”
Sara and her husband were told by several doctors that there was a risk of the child being harmed by the medicine, something that is also stated in IVO’s documents.
– It was the most difficult decision we had to face in our lives. If we are to keep this desired pregnancy with the risk of birth defects, or to perform an abortion.
Out of concern that the abortion pills prescribed by the doctors caused harm to the child, Sara and her husband decided to complete the abortion after all. She still feels bad mentally about what happened.
– A miscarriage is the course of nature, and it can happen. But getting the wrong assessment and suddenly having to decide whether to carry out an abortion of a live fetus or not, that was the worst thing we had to go through.
IVO directs sharp criticism
Now Sara and her husband hope to receive financial compensation from Löf, the regions’ mutual insurance company, in order to finance new fertility treatment. But Sara’s trust in authorities and care has been damaged.
– I don’t have such high hopes or expectations for society. It feels quite hopeless, and I have no faith, she says.
IVO notes that both doctors made the wrong assessment and directs harsh criticism at them.
“IVO believes that ultrasound findings do not constitute a reliable basis for determining the viability of a pregnancy at such an early stage. This is also evident from the company’s own internal guidelines. The patient’s symptoms of discharge and abdominal pain may occur during a normal early pregnancy and there are no other symptoms that indicate an abnormal course of pregnancy,” writes IVO, which may carry out follow-up checks on the measures taken by the healthcare provider.