A Patient’s Decision After These Long Difficult Weeks
For some women, an unplanned pregnancy can be scary. And the decision to follow can be even scarier. For one patient (we’ll call her patient “S”), it took several weeks to decide what to do.
Patient S, who had never been to ThriVe before, can to our Central West End location for a pregnancy test. The father of the baby was in another committed relationship and wasn’t supportive of patient S’s situation. Like many women, she found herself very confused and undecided about how to move forward. Because the father of the baby was not on board, she was leaning towards abortion. However, there are few important steps she needed to take before scheduling a procedure. An important part of pre-abortion screening is confirming that the pregnancy is viable through an ultrasound.
During her initial ultrasound scan, patient S was able to see her baby’s heartbeat and was told by one of our nurses that she was about midway into her first trimester. Patient S expressed that she was still undecided and left the appointment troubled and sad. Because of ThriVe’s priority of making sure patients receive proper follow up, S was offered a second ultrasound since she expressed she was still undecided. S told the Sonographer that she had a huge exam coming up and she declined the repeat scan.
A couple of weeks later and an entire month from S’s very first appointment, she called the HelpLine. Patient S told the Helpline Specialist that she wanted to have that repeat ultrasound if she still could. She expressed she had decided to have an abortion but was now having doubts about whether that was the best option for her. The HelpLine specialist told her to come in as soon as she could since the center would be closing in the next hour. S showed up and the medical staff stayed after closing hours so S could have the repeat scan and discuss her decision with the nurse. ThriVe’s staff truly care about their patients and want them to be 100% comfortable with whatever choice they make.
S was able to see her baby, now over 10 weeks, moving all around. During that repeat scan, S said, “Is he waving at me?” The nurse told her that an active baby in the womb is what we would expect to see at this gestational age. The nurse asked her what she thought of this second scan and she said “I feel so happy and want to keep it.” Our nurse asked if it would be okay for ThriVe to call and check-up on her again after her appointment. “Yes, please do! I love when you guys call and check on me,” said patient S.
These were long difficult weeks for S. But having ThriVe there to give supportive care, proper medical services, and follow up with her, helped S make the best decision for herself. And ThriVe can do the same for you! Whatever your situation, ThriVe can walk you through your options and offer judgement-free support, so that you can walk into your future confident about your choice. Make an appointment today!
