Marie Stopes treats women like they are on a conveyor belt, a woman who decided to keep her baby has said.
Jade Stevens, who visited a Marie Stopes clinic in 2015, said she was pressured into an abortion by nurses and was accused of “wasting their time” when she changed her mind.
Her story comes in the wake of a disturbing report by the Government-backed Care Quality Commission which found that Marie Stopes was failing to follow basic safety procedures.
‘All about money’
There were more than 2,600 serious incidents last year, and Marie Stopes has been accused of putting profits over patient safety.
Jade Stevens was struggling to decide whether to keep the baby after having split from the father.
She expected sympathy, kindness and compassion from Marie Stopes but found the clinic to be cold and uncaring.
“I saw several nurses and explained my situation. I felt like they wanted me to have an abortion”, she said. “It is all about money. They are not counselling people properly.”
‘Half-dressed’
She added that staff seemed not to care about the ordeal of women coming in. “It was like a conveyor belt”, she said. “Some were really upset, they were crying but there was no support for them.”
“It was one in, and literally five minutes later, another one in. They were doing it so quickly”, she added.
“It was like a conveyor belt”
– Jade Stevens
She was shocked by the way she was treated by staff, however. “When I told them I didn’t want the abortion they accused me of wasting their time”, she said. “I was ushered out of the door half-dressed and in tears.”
Vulnerable
She said she had been vulnerable at the time, and would have felt very depressed if she had aborted the child.
Jade, who already had two children, gave birth to her third, a girl, and said she was glad she had not had an abortion.
“It is very challenging but I am glad I have got her”, she said.