Abortion: Women in Wales routinely sent to England for treatment

Katie and her partner were told their baby was unlikely to survive.

She said she felt additional trauma at being told, at more than 17 weeks’ pregnant, that a surgical abortion was not available on her side of the border.

“To be told that was not an option for me in Wales, to be told that the health care I needed wasn’t available in my home country and to have to go to an unfamiliar place, was really shocking actually and really upsetting,” she said.

Instead, her only option was to deliver her baby on a labour ward surrounded by mothers and their newborns.

After contacting the British Pregnancy Advisory service (BPAS), Katie chose to have a surgery under general anaesthetic in Bournemouth, spending “four figures” on accommodation and waiting four days so they could bring their baby’s ashes home.

“I’m obviously devastated that we lost our baby, but we are looking forward,” she said.

“I’m hoping to have another baby at some point, and I’m telling you now that the only reason that is possible is because I was able to access a procedure that was less traumatic for me.

“If I had not had that choice, I think psychologically, the effects on me would be far, far worse,” she added.