‘It is not something that the majority of people are able to hear. It could traumatise them’ – Quote from one midwife in research just published about experiences of midwives looking after women undergoing abortions.
(Pro-Life Campaign) Research just published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing reveals the devastating truth of what it’s like to be a midwife working in an environment where abortions are performed. The latest research focuses on the provision of abortion after 14 weeks in Australia and New Zealand. It was published on 14 March 2025.
Describing the moral and emotional impact of being involved in the abortion process, one midwife wrote: “To participate in elective death and birth is very challenging. It is emotionally distressing for everyone involved. The decision to terminate a viable baby is very challenging. It stays with me long after the birth. The distress of the mother (and others) stays with me. If the mother (and others) is indifferent, that also stays with me. I grieve the loss of the baby. I have a ritual I perform for the baby’s soul while it lingers around the time of death and birth”.
There were 426 responses that highlighted the emotional toll midwives felt from assisting in abortions with terms being used like “emotionally draining”, “emotionally exhausting”, “heartbreaking”, “saturated in loss”,”taking the grief home” and “soaked in grief”.
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One of the reasons midwives gave for not seeking emotional support for what they were doing was because they felt their experiences were too traumatic to share with others, with one midwife saying: “It is not something that the majority of people are able to hear. It could traumatise them.”
Dealing with the remains of the baby was referred to as the most distressing aspect of their job, with one midwife writing: “You never forget the little ones, remembering what they look like, how delicate they are”.
A baby born alive after the abortion procedure was considered the ‘worst scenario’ as midwives recounted the experience of waiting for the baby to die, counting the minutes until signs of life ceased: “I held the baby until it passed away. It took 56min”, one midwife wrote.
A lack of guidance on caring for babies that survived an abortion increased the confusion and distress midwives experienced, with one saying: “My manager would prefer we just put them straight in the cold cot, but how do you not show this tiny little person some compassion and love in their short lives?”
The research consisted of 1,389 responses to 10 open text questions embedded in a web-based cross-sectional survey. You can access the full research findings here.
The latest findings provide more evidence for what we already knew from previous studies – abortion takes a huge toll on the mental health of those involved in the abortion industry. Politicians to avoid having to face the reality of what legalised abortion actually entails turn a blind eye to every report and research finding that raises the alarm bells. Instead of facing the truth, they bombard the debate with dishonest terms like “abortion care” and “abortion healthcare for women and girls.”
Tweet This: Abortion takes a huge toll on the mental health of those involved in the abortion industry.
We know what abortion does to the innocent baby whose life is ended. What will eventually turn the tide and end the madness of what is happening is when more women who regret their abortions speak out, and when more healthcare workers say enough is enough and refuse to cooperate with the big lie that’s being peddled that legalised abortion is the sign of a humane and caring society.
Editor's note: This article was published by Pro-Life Campaign and is reprinted with permission.
