Mum's shock at schoolgirl abortion

[Govindaram]

 

12 May 2004

Mum's shock at schoolgirl abortion

{Uk NewsPaper}

 

 

A SHOCKED mum has revealed how a Mansfield school helped organise an abortion for her 14-year-old daughter without her knowledge.

 

 

 

A SHOCKED mum has revealed how a Mansfield school helped organise an abortion for her 14-year-old daughter without her knowledge.

 

The horrified Ladybrook woman only found out her daughter was pregnant and due to have a termination when a schoolfriend let the news slip.

 

She says her schoolgirl daughter's abortion had been arranged by a special outreach service at Brunts School... and says leaders told her they did not have to share the information with her.

 

Now the furious mum-of-two says she wants to warn other mothers about the Mansfield Primary Care Trust outreach service, saying she is appalled that confidentiality laws mean its workers do not have to tell parents anything.

 

But Brunts School chiefs and health bosses have all defended the service, insisting the schoolgirl has received total support and will continue to do so when she returns.

 

The distraught mum, however, says she is outraged that no-one contacted her about the situation... and says she is devastated that her daughter faced going through a termination without her by her side.

 

"My daughter is just a kid, she needed her mother with her," she told Chad. "I had no idea this sort of thing could happen without me knowing. I feel like my right as a parent has been taken away from me.

 

"I feel like I've had my heart ripped out, so God knows what my daughter is going through.

 

"Had I known in time she would have had my full support and that of her boyfriend's parents and we could have discussed it as a family."

 

But she only found out the devastating news after her daughter had been to King's Mill Hospital and been given a tablet to start the termination process.

 

And she says she was disgusted to discover that her daughter would have been going back to the hospital for the abortion with only a friend for support and with no adult present.

 

She told Chad that she had felt helpless, but was grateful that she had managed to step in and go with her daughter as she underwent the abortion.

 

"If I hadn't been there during the termination and something had gone wrong, who would they have called then? Me, her mother, of course," she said.

 

Now the woman, who is a health worker, has called for assurances from Brunts School that her daughter will get the necessary support now the abortion has taken place.

 

"It hasn't really sunk in for my daughter yet and I want to make sure the advice and supposed support she received beforehand will still be there when she goes back to school.

 

"I had to contact the school about this, no one contacted me... least of all the woman who advised my daughter."

 

The schoolgirl is now recovering from her ordeal with a relative out of the area, but her mum says she is worried the trauma will stay with her forever.

 

But Brunts deputy headteacher Claire Allerton this week insisted the schoolgirl will receive all the support she needs and stressed the confidential nature of the service meant outreach workers could not breach the code.

 

And she revealed that an information letter containing full details of the school's Community Child Health Service... which includes individual consultations with pupils... is sent to all parents every September.

 

The letter clearly states the confidential nature of these consultations and says: "Parental consent for an individual consultation is not required other than in rare circumstances when the young person is judged not to be sufficiently mature to take part independently."

 

The provision of an outreach worker at the school is part of the Nottinghamshire Teenage Pregnancy Strategy and a spokesperson for the service told Chad: "The strategy enables young people to make their own informed decisions about their sexual health, and supports young people in the decisions they make."