6.2.3  Private Clinic Abortions  

Participants reported that 13 surgical abortions had been performed at private clinics. The 

clinics (six in all) were described by location, usually a market designated location. Two study 

participants said that the staff wore uniforms at the private clinics where they had their abortions.  

It looked like a clinic. The people were in light blue uniforms. It's a story building at 

[market location]. Upstairs. 

According to one participant, at least one of these clinics advertised its services on a sign 

outside the clinic door. Apparently, the clinic provided other services besides abortions. 

When we went, the nurses asked what we were there for and my friend told them I was 

pregnant and I wanted an abortion. They sent me into a room and they pressed my 

stomach and the man said I was really pregnant and I went to urinate. When I came back 

they sent me to another room. [Bernadette]  

Several of the participants said that they filled out a card at the clinic before the 

procedure.  

They made a card for 3,000 [cedis] before they did it. [Grace] 

Among the 13 accounts of abortions performed at the private clinics, five girls said that 

they were awake during the abortion and two said that they were put to sleep. The others didn't 

include this information in their stories. One said she had received an injection to decrease the 

pain, but that she did not lose consciousness. Again, a suction device was used to perform the 

abortions. 

Since we were not able to interview the providers at these clinics, the credentials of those 

performing the abortions are unclear; nor is it known whether the clinic was legally recognized. 

What is clear is that these clinics were fairly well known.  The basic procedure followed at the 

hospital and the nurses' quarters seemed to have been followed at the clinics, according to the 

girls' reports.  

6.2.4  Postabortion Complications from Clinic Abortions 

According to Hatcher, postabortion warning signs include fever, chills, abdominal pain, 

cramping or backache, tenderness in the abdomen, prolonged or heavy bleeding, foul vaginal 

discharge, and a six week delay in resuming menstrual periods.

8

 (Hatcher, 1998:694) 

Few participants reported any health problems after their hospital, staff quarters, or 

private clinic abortions. Some described feeling somewhat shaky or weak immediately after the 

8

  Teenagers tend to have abortions later in gestation than do adult women, and therefore, as a group, experience 

more complications. Adjust for length of gestation, however, and teenagers have fewer complications than do older 

women.  (Hatcher, 1998) 

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