participant said that she was afraid to go to the hospital for an abortion, so the herbalist 

apparently worked with her. She described the procedure as follows: 

She gave me some medicine, some tiny medicines, and she made me pound it in a 

mortar. . . It was from a paw paw tree and she made me boil it; she said I should mix it 

with the other one, boil it, sieve it, and use it in an enema. But when I did it, it did not 

come. She gave me another one. I don't remember the name of the drink, but then I threw 

up anytime I drank it. I drank it twice and decided not to drink it again. When I told her, 

she gave me another one, but I haven't used it it was from a tree, it's long. She said I 

should grind it and use it in an enema, but when I came home I decided not to do it. 

[Candace] 

One participant said she decided to use Auntie Mercy when her boyfriend did not 

produce the money fast enough for a surgical abortion. 

I told him and he said he was going to find money for me to go to the hospital for an 

abortion. But it was delaying. . . I got to know all the ways that people did abortions. . . I 

went straight to the Timber market and got the herb. It is called  Aatsoo. [Rachel] 

Most participants said that this medicine can be obtained at the market, but one 

participant knew how to harvest and prepare it and did so on at least one occasion. 

I didn't want the pregnancy. That was why I told my friend and she also helped by going 

with me to harvest the herbs for the abortion. [Theresa] 

 6.3.2 

Multiple 

Methods 

At least four participants described using multiple methods before they successfully 

terminated their pregnancies. 

A friend told me I could boil some Guinness and add some sugar to it and drink. I did 

that, but it couldn't abort. Then she advised me to go to the pharmacy, a shop, and buy a 

drug. It has a white packaging, and there are two tablets in it. I took both orally, but 

again the pregnancy did not come. Then I went to see an herbalist who gave me some 

herbs to insert in my vagina. I did that and a week later, the pregnancy was aborted. . . It 

was painful and made me very weak, until the abortion took place. . . [afterwards] I was 

normal. I only bled heavily for one week and was okay. . . I did not have money to go to 

the hospital. [Naomi] 

The participant below described a failed abortion attempt consisting of consuming sugar 

and muscatella.  

I have ever tried that, but it failed me. I became very ill after taking the concoction. I was 

rushed to [the hospital]. I was given an injection and I felt better. But I couldn't abort. I 

carried the pregnancy full term and gave birth to my first child. [Bernadette] 

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