"Brilliant"

Gestation: 22 weeks

I arrived for the first part of my 2 day procedure, I was feeling extremely anxious (to the point of shaking and feeling sick!) the HCA sat behind the reception at the time was very comforting and immediately made me feel a lot more at ease.

The waiting room was very busy - there was a slight delay on the timings of appointments, however the management explained to us that BPAS are experiencing high volumes of patients due to a Marie Stopes issue and therefore resulting in many more women requiring their help. I work in healthcare and understand that due to the nature of the job, things are not always able to run as smoothly as people would like! Some patients required more urgent attention than others and that's fine - I knew if I was in an emergency I would be treated promptly.

I was called for my briefing and paperwork appointment for the Dilapan insertion. A lot of my anxieties were completely gone after this appointment - I had been reading scary things on Google about how painful insertion is etc. Not true! It wasn't so bad at all.

I then went to theatre a couple of hours later - feeling quite anxious. The staff were amazing and again put my mind completely at ease. Although it was uncomfortable having the Dilapan inserted, it was nothing in comparison to what I was expecting after the horror stories all over Google!

I went to recovery, then was discharged and provided with lots of information about what could happen over night and what to do if it does happen.

My waters broke on the way home, this was a little anxiety provoking. However totally normal.

Day 2, I arrived for the evacuation part of the procedure. I had never been under general anaesthetic and again was very worried about this. The staff were incredible and again made me feel more relaxed than I had imagined possible when being wheeled into theatre!

I woke up in recovery, was given a contraceptive injection and then taken upstairs to stage 2 recovery. My partner was allowed up to see me and the staff were absolutely lovely. Nothing was too much to ask.

I had cramps and was given pain killers, these soon went and I was able to eat and drink comfortably.

I then went into the discharge lounge and after discussing any worries with the nurse, was sent home with some antibiotics.

A day later, I got extremely bad abdominal pains and a fever so made sure I followed the advice to go to the GP - I did and was given the necessary treatment. Now, not even a week later I feel back to my usual self again.

I hope I don't need to but if I did I would be more than confident going through BPAS again. They made what could've been a horrific experience, surprisingly stress free.