Important corrections to news item by Rebecca Coombes
Rebecca Coombes phoned me when she was writing this news item and
asked me to explain to her the methods that have been used for first
trimester abortions. I welcome her drawing attention to the translation of
the pioneering paper by Wu and Wu - suction termination was a major
advance in abortion methodology - but there some misunderstandings in her
interpretation of what I said. These are:
1. I know of no evidence that "The communist regime was very keen to
reduce population". In fact, contraceptive methods were not generally
available in Russia and Eastern Europe and the only way in which desperate
women could limit their families was by legal abortion.
2. Dorothea Kerslake was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at
the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne rather than "the department of
obstetrics and gynaecology".
3. The plastic cannula developed by Harvey Karman (not Karnen) was
sufficiently flexible to follow the curve of the cervical canal but not
soft enough to "curl up inside the uterus ...".
4. I am emeritus reader in obstetrics and gynaecology at Imperial College
School of Medicine at St Mary's and not a professor.
Rapid Response:
Important corrections to news item by Rebecca Coombes
Rebecca Coombes phoned me when she was writing this news item and asked me to explain to her the methods that have been used for first trimester abortions. I welcome her drawing attention to the translation of the pioneering paper by Wu and Wu - suction termination was a major advance in abortion methodology - but there some misunderstandings in her interpretation of what I said. These are:
1. I know of no evidence that "The communist regime was very keen to reduce population". In fact, contraceptive methods were not generally available in Russia and Eastern Europe and the only way in which desperate women could limit their families was by legal abortion.
2. Dorothea Kerslake was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne rather than "the department of obstetrics and gynaecology".
3. The plastic cannula developed by Harvey Karman (not Karnen) was sufficiently flexible to follow the curve of the cervical canal but not soft enough to "curl up inside the uterus ...".
4. I am emeritus reader in obstetrics and gynaecology at Imperial College School of Medicine at St Mary's and not a professor.
Competing interests: None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests