I'd only recommend an abortion under general anaesthetic if it's absolutely necessary

When I was 22 yrs old I had a surgical abortion under general anaesthetic. At the time I was 12 weeks pregnant and this was the only option I was allowed. I felt no pain and had no bleeding afterwards, however, this option meant that I had to stay in the hospital for half a day and I felt terrible afterwards. I would only recommend going under general anaesthetic if it is absolutely necessary.

More stories involving surgical abortion»

So now I am 28 and I became pregnant again which was a complete accident as I have never wanted children so I always practice safe sex. So I was 1 week late for my period and as my period is quite regular I took a pregnancy test and it came back positive, I contacted my GP and discussed my options with him and this time I was offered a different procedure as I was only 7 weeks pregnant.

The procedure I opted for was to have the abortion with a local anaesthetic and be awake throughout the procedure. I was quite nervous about being awake during the procedure but my doctor was very reassuring and explained everything to me.

I had the abortion 4 days ago at an NHS hospital.

I waited about an hour to be seen so I would suggest bringing magazines or music or someone to keep you company if you can.

When I got called through I was met by a friendly female nurse who gave me some painkillers to take orally and a painkiller suppository taken anally which I had to insert myself, in the bathroom.

Then after about 20 minutes, I went in to meet the male doctor who was going to be doing the procedure. He explained the whole process to me and asked me if I had any questions.

After about 30 minutes I went into the theatre room, I was greeted by 3 female nurses who told me that they were basically there to distract me with conversation which was great.

I undressed from the waist down in a private cubicle and put a hospital gown on, I then sat in a chair with my legs wide apart and was raised up a bit. The nurses put a sheet over the top of your legs so that you can't see anything that is going on down there.

As I was chatting away to the nurses, the doctor explained what he was doing as he injected a local anaesthetic vaginally. We had to wait a few minutes for this to kick in but all you feel is prodding around, kind of the same as having a tooth removed, you feel the actions but no pain. It was quite uncomfortable but the nurses really help take your mind off of it.

Next came the suction device that removed the pregnancy, that hurt a bit. Then I was taken to a recovery room, the procedure was very quick.

I lied down on a bed and I had the most excruciating stomach cramps which were the worst period pain you could imagine. But after 20 minutes the pain was completely gone, I felt a little bit light-headed and giddy but was absolutely fine and went home within half an hour of the procedure.

That day I bled bright red blood on and off but not huge amounts and I still had no pain.

The following couple of days I had a little bit of light spotting and have just been feeling really tired.

Today I have had a bit of dark brown bleeding but only light. My breasts are still swollen and sore but they feel like they are going down slowly. Overall, I could not fault the NHS staff during this procedure and I would recommend that you choose this option instead of a general anaesthetic or the medical procedure.

As I have had a miscarriage before I would not want anyone to induce one with a pill as it's the worst pain I have ever suffered and it lasts for 24 hours or more and you are sat on the toilet all day bleeding it is horrible.

I hope that me sharing my experience will help anyone who is still undecided on what procedure to have.

The key to a quick recovery is having 1 person (relative, friend, partner) who can support you through the process emotionally. I have no depression and feel relieved and happy that I can move on with my life.