“Look at his beautiful little heart"

‘I’m absolutely terrified’ shrieked ‘Audrey’ as we sped through central London on the way to her doctor’s appointment.
‘What if the baby is not growing in the womb? What if there’s something wrong with my hormones and my hormones are harming the baby? What if the baby’s implanted outside my womb? And what if the baby doesn’t have a heart? Most of all, I’m convinced that the baby’s dead!’ ‘Audrey’ felt very alone in her pregnancy and is very far from home. Audrey’s fears about the baby were crowding her mind and because she thought her hormones were negatively affecting the baby, she had booked an abortion for the coming days.
Audrey had asked me to attend her doctor’s appointment and scan with her. The doctor is a rugged Celtic type, and while occasionally a bit gruff, he patiently explained to her that her hormones were not damaging her baby. Audrey was still very agitated when she lay down for her scan, her fists were clenched and her face taut with stress. A shadow appeared on the scan, and then the beating silhouette came into focus, the doctor announced,

‘Look at that beating heart! You’re a bit further in the pregnancy than you had thought.’
‘Aw! Amazing! Look at his beautiful little heart! Beautiful heart!’ said Audrey and tears of joy sprang from her eyes. Audrey was mesmerised by the gently pounding heart, and asked if the baby was definitely in the right place.
‘The baby’s in the womb all right and at this stage looks like he’s doing very well. Your risk of miscarriage is getting lower all the time.’
Audrey was ecstatic leaving the doctor’s office but still wanted to discuss if she should cancel her abortion. To be continued tomorrow...

Mary O' Regan