[Prevention of abortion]. / Prévention de l'avortement.

PIP: Psychologists and marriage counselors conducting preabortion interviews in a French clinic note that women have emotions concerning abortion apart from the reasons they give for choosing to end their pregnancies. Their experience demonstrates that a pregnancy never occurs by chance, but always at a given moment of existence. An abortion becomes an event in the significant and particular history of each woman undergoing one. Particular circumstances of unemployment, illness, or other adversity become linked in the woman's later recollections of the abortion. Abortions often signify psychic problems of separation or loss, as demonstrated by the considerable number of immigrant women who undergo abortions after having been obliged to leave their native lands, or those who undergo abortions after the death of a child. Women choosing abortion experience anguish and guilt. Fantasies of the aborted child represent the period of mourning that must be surmounted. The psychic labor of the grief process allows a progressive detachment to be achieved. The belief that expanded knowledge and use of contraception would lead to a significant decline in abortion has been belied by experience; the number of abortions has been stable over the years despite ever increasing use of contraceptives of all types. The objective of contraception, a harmonious sexual relationship in which pregnancy does not occur, is itself complex. Choices related to a more or less distant future are made by individuals who are to a greater or lesser extent engaged in the relationship using more or less inconvenient techniques. Statements made by couples themselves perfectly reflect the paradoxes. Objections and resistances to contraceptive use are also prompted by societal norms of sex and reproduction. The couple are influenced in their abortion decision by their own level of maturity and by their family backgrounds.^ieng

[Patient admission and induced abortion. A different mode: homeopathy and sophrology]. / Un suivi différent: homéopathie et sophrologie.

PIP: Unlike classic allopathic medicine in which specific drugs are given for specific symptoms, homeopathic prescriptions take into account the specificity of each patient. Different patients have different reactions to the same illness. Homeopathic practitioners sometimes prescribe different remedies for each patient suffering a particular illness. Two nurses and a midwife at the abortion service of the Center for Social Gynecology in Marseilles received training in homeopathic medicine which they applied to their work with abortion patients. A very complete and detailed questioning is necessary to identify the prescription that will be best adapted to the overall psychological, somatic, and etiological circumstances of the patient. Changes noted since the beginning of the pregnancy are especially noted. During the medical consultation, homeopathy may be proposed by the physician for patients who are particularly stressed. The anxiety and fear experienced by the referred patients can have physical consequences. The opportunity given to the patient to express herself and the individualized remedies prescribed enable the procedure to be completed under better conditions. Sophrology is the study of consciousness, its modifications, and the physical, psychological, and physiological means that can modify it for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes. A psychiatrist in Barcelona developed sophrology and began to teach it in 1960. The goal of sophrology is to achieve mental relaxation through muscular relaxation. Application of the principles of sophrology in an abortion service must be adapted to the structure and function of the service. Most patients have no knowledge of the method. Explanations must be rapid, clear, and simplified if patients are to obtain benefit. The practitioner instructs the patient in a calm voice to be aware of and maintain breathing, and uses positive words to suggest that the patient relax. Personnel with adequate training in sophrology can assist patients in overcoming their anguish and pain. A slowing of the heartbeat and better oxygenation result from use of the method.^ieng