Termination of pregnancy for patients travelling from Pune

First, the part nobody says out loud

Most people who telephone us are frightened, and most have never been admitted to a hospital before for anything. What they are afraid of is rarely the procedure. It is being seen, being asked, being talked about afterwards.

So: your identity is protected by law, and protected here in practice. Nothing about your visit is written where anyone else can see it, discussed outside the room, or shared with anyone at all — not your family, not your partner, not your employer, not a caller who telephones asking after you. Our staff are trained over years to be non-judgemental. Gossip is not left to good intentions here; it is a discipline that is taught and enforced.

If you are not married, you are fully entitled to this care and it is completely lawful. You do not need your husband's, your partner's or your parents' permission — the decision and the consent are yours. Many of our patients are unmarried, and they are looked after exactly as everyone else is.

Why patients from Pune choose to travel

Pune has a very large young population — students, hostel residents, people who have moved for a first job — and the circles they live in are small and closely observed. Some patients also come because they want the whole thing settled in one visit, by one hospital, rather than being sent between a scan centre, a laboratory and a clinic in the city they live in. An hour's flight buys both.

What the visit actually involves

An ectopic pregnancy is a different thing

Now and then the scan finds a pregnancy growing outside the womb, almost always in a fallopian tube. That is an ectopic pregnancy, and it is not a termination of pregnancy. It is a separate medical condition and it is an emergency: the pregnancy cannot continue where it is, and the operation that treats it is done to protect your life, under entirely different considerations. That is precisely why the scan is done before any decision is taken.

Why sooner is better

Earlier in a pregnancy, this is simpler for you: more methods remain open, less intervention is required and recovery is quicker. Later, the options narrow and what remains is a larger undertaking. The MTP Act sets the outer limits, and we will tell you plainly where you fall within them. But the honest reason to travel this week rather than next month is medical.

The cost, and the promise attached to it

With a recent ultrasound to hand we can give you a close estimate over the telephone. It stays an estimate until you are examined, because no one can price what has not yet been assessed. When you arrive, our own certified doctors examine you and repeat the investigations so the exact stage is known.

You are then given a precise, itemised cost — hospital, medical, pharmacy and laboratory, listed separately — and that becomes a promised package in rupees. Hospital fees are taken in full in advance and the figure does not move at the end. The figure you are given is the figure you pay.

How to reach us from Pune

• By air — about an hour. There are direct flights from Pune into Goa. Dabolim (GOI) is the airport to prefer; the hospital is a few kilometres away. Mopa (GOX) in North Goa also works but adds roughly an hour and a half of road at this end.
• By road — a long but ordinary drive. Pune to Goa down the highway is a full day, and plenty of patients do it. If you are driving, tell us your route.
• Not by train. Rail from Pune to Goa is slow and roundabout; the flight or the road is better, and we would rather say so.
• Our car, free of cost. Anywhere in Goa — airport, railway station, wherever you are staying — we collect you and take you back at no charge. The car service also runs into Maharashtra and Karnataka; tell us where you are starting from and we will tell you honestly what we can send.

Flight and road times change with the season, so check before booking.

Open Pai Hospital, Vaddem, Vasco-da-Gama in Google Maps

What to send us first

• The date of your last menstrual period, and any scan you already have — by WhatsApp, before you book travel.
• Any blood reports, so your day here is not spent repeating tests.
• A question about the follow-up check, so you know whether it fits into this trip.

See medical (pill) termination and surgical termination for what each involves, or the abortion services overview.

This page is for general education and is not personal medical advice. Treatment depends on your own examination and reports, so please speak to a doctor about your situation. We do not carry out or offer sex determination of any kind.