I was pregnant and concerned that I might have post-natal depression after giving birth. I was very anxious about the pregnancy having had a miscarriage in the past.

I was told by this particular service that they were non-affiliated and would send counsellors to my home for a free session. I made it clear that I was prepared to pay but was told that they could do a referral and this was the way that they commenced their referral service also.

Two women came to my home. It was a horrendous experience. I didn’t know them and they quickly launched into some very intrusive questioning. Immediately they asked me if I had ever had an abortion (I had) and then started to attribute my anxiety to psychological damage I had experienced by having an abortion in the past – alleging that this harm I had caused to myself was well substantiated in all the research. In other words, I needed counselling because of my past abortion!

I was very angry as, in my own experience, the abortion was the one experience that I felt resolved about. It had been my choice and I had supported myself and had been supported through it. Where I felt vulnerable was in respect of the pregnancies where I did not have choice because I had experienced that my body had let me down. I did without specialised counselling services as I was reluctant to go through that experience again.