Another participant said that she didn't have an abortion because, 

The doctor, he said if I aborted the child I would die. It frightened me. 

Regarding her second pregnancy with her second boyfriend, Naomi said the following 

about trying to get an abortion: 

My boyfriend took me to [hospital] to get an abortion, but when the doctor examined it 

he said it was four months old and that it could not be aborted. So I carried it full term. 

[Naomi] 

6.3 

Herbal Medicine and Home Remedies: Using Multiple Methods  

The home remedies and herbal medicines described by the participants were sometimes 

spoken of as day after methods to prevent abortion or as menstrual regulators used as soon as 

one noticed a delayed period. Several participants explained how to use these methods. 

Drank brandy after missing period for three days and it would come .[Candace] 

If you have sex with a man and he puts his sperm in you and you know you are late, you 

will buy some of the medicines they sell at the toilet and use it in an enema, like the 

akumadada. And also the mixture of ginger and pepper that they sell at the toilet. When 

you buy it and use it in an enema, it will come. But then, if you are careless and you don't 

do it early enough, you will get pregnant. [Candace] 

One girl said that she was taught in a class at school what to do to bring on menstruation: 

They taught us all; we were taught that when your period is late you will eat coffee and 

sugar, then it will come two sachets [of coffee] and half packet of sugar.  

Others spoke of the same methods as ways to terminate a pregnancy more than a few 

weeks old. Home remedies consisted mainly of some liquid such as Guinness, brandy, milk, 

muscatella, tea, or Nescafe mixed with nearly equal amounts of sugar. One participant said that 

she just drank brandy to cause the abortion.  

Another participant said that financial constraints caused her to try a home remedy at 

three months rather than have a clinic abortion. 

I tried the tea, I mean Nescafe, at three months. I wanted to have an abortion, but my 

boyfriend would not give me the money. I tried the coffee, but I could not get it right. I 

could not get enough sugar, so it did not work and I forgot about it. [Mary] 

Since it is costs more to get a surgical abortion than to use a home remedy or buy an 

herbal medicine, it is possible that girls who are not financially independent and do not have the 

consent of their boyfriends are more likely to use these methods.  

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