“I am not happy at all in my life. I did the abortion thinking that it was going to solve my problems but ever since I did it, I’ve never been happy,” said Rabelani Makhuvha.

When she found out she was pregnant she went to tell the father, but he refused to take any responsibility. ‘€œI then decided to have an abortion because I don’€™t want to raise a child without a father,’€ she said.

She went for the abortion in November last year and at first everything seemed fine. But a couple of weeks later she started experiencing pain coupled with an abnormal vaginal discharge that wouldn’€™t stop.

‘€œI didn’€™t tell anyone about the abortion, but after a while my mother started to suspect that something was wrong with me,” she added.

Rabelani’€™s mother, Mukondi Makuvha, said she could see her child wasn’€™t well, but didn’€™t know what was wrong. “I asked her what was going on, at first she didn’€™t want to talk but she ended up telling me that she had a headache, was feeling dizzy and that her vagina was sore. I proposed that she go to the clinic but she refused and said she was going to be fine.

‘€œTwo days later I heard her screaming in her room. When I got there I found her on the floor with her hands on her stomach. When I asked her what was wrong, she confessed about the abortion and that she was experiencing a lot of pain in her stomach,” said Mukondi.

“I called my neighbour to come with his car so that we could take her to the clinic. When we arrived at the clinic, they called an ambulance for her to be rushed to hospital,” she added.

A sister at Thengwe clinic, Sellinah Sikhitha, said: “When Rabelani arrived here at the clinic she was in deep pain and we couldn’€™t help her, but we managed to transfer her to the hospital where she got help and she was given some medications to stop the bleeding and discharge,” she said.

“I am happy that she is not dead because she is my only child. I just wish she told me earlier so that we could get help sooner so that she didn’€™t have to go through that  experience. I hope she has learnt a lesson,” said Mukondi.

“I am glad now that the discharge and bleeding has stopped. The only problem I have right now is that I still feel some pain in my stomach. Now that I’ve experienced the consequences of abortion, I would like to advise every girl out there that even if you get pregnant when you are still young, abortion is not your only option. In my case abortion only increased my problems. If you get pregnant and you were not expecting that, you must try and accept that you’ve made a mistake and make peace with that and everything will be perfect,” concluded Rabelani Makhuvha. – OurHealth/Health-e News Service

Suprise Nemalale is an OurHealth Citizen Journalist reporting from the Vhembe health district in Limpopo.