To start the article, let's first define what an abortion is. Abortion is a term used to refer to an operation or other intervention to end a pregnancy by removing an embryo or fetus from the womb at too early a stage in its development for it to survive. It is the technical name for miscarriage or involuntary expulsion of fetus from the womb.
When women got pregnant in the wrong time, usually they attempt doing things which they thought could prevent or remove the embryo developing in their womb. Teenagers, girls who were molested, some prostitutes, and ordinary woman who just got pregnant - they are the common people who do abortion. Well, they have their own reason of losing a sprouting life. We all know (or some of us know) that abortion can be dangerous and may cause death sometimes.
Here in the Philippines, law-makers are still in debate of passing the Reproductive Health Bill. One aim of the said law is to protect women from the danger side of pregnancy. In addition, for me, the law may also help couples in managing themselves for planning and preventing the occurrence of pregnancy. Thus, misleading informations such as the subject of this article, can be wiped out because some of them may cause hazard in the part of the woman.
Cortal and Coke
Cortal is a brand of aspirin. So to elaborate the medical use of cortal, let's have the aspirin.
An Aspirin is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It has an antiplatelet effect by inhibiting the production of thromboxane, which under normal circumstances binds platelet molecules together to create a patch over damaged walls of blood vessels. Because the platelet patch can become too large and also block blood flow, locally and downstream, aspirin is also used long-term, at low doses, to help prevent heart attacks, strokes, and blood clot formation in people at high risk of developing blood clots.[1] In other words, aspirin can make the blood diluted, and prevents blood from clotting.
Coca-cola (simply Coke) is a product of Coca-Cola Company, invented by Colonel John Pemberton. It is a soft drink containing carbonated water, sugar (particularly sucrose or fructose), caffeine, phosphoric acid, caramel color, cocaine-free coca leaf extract and natural flavorings.[2]
Story
Note: The pronoun words referring to the speaker (such as I, me and my) are not the author of this article himself. The story was summarized and some words were changed to generic words to protect some specific places or individuals.
A friend of a friend of mine told me a story of a girl who was troubled of learning that she was pregnant. She was studying in a popular school in the capital-city. She was living by her own self in a dormitory. She told her boyfriend about her state, but like some other boys, he didn't accept the responsibility. Instead, he advised her to get rid of the child. She was pissed off, but her boyfriend is right. Her parents will get angry if they will learn she was pregnant. So she tried to get some self-medication. Her friends told her to take three tablets of cortal and wash it with coke. Later, she felt dizzy and blood oozed to her legs. Her dormmates rushed her to the emergency room of a hospital. The doctor pronounced miscarriage. |
Variations:
The story is kinda consistent in details, but the end of it varies. Some story suggest that the girl was pronounced dead on arrival while the others tell a happily ever after. There are other stories that even tells how many tablets are taken. Some took 20 tablets of cortal, others 3, 6 and 8 tablets. Others just mention of an aspirin, not the brand Cortal itself. About the drink, some tells coke, others 7-up, and even the other carbonated drinks. Other story didn't even mention coke, instead just a water with 20 cortal tablets.
Effects to Pregnancy
CAFFEINE
Caffeine can ordinarily be found in coffee, tea, soda, and some energy drink. It can also be used as an ingredient of some medicines and painkillers. Caffeine is a stimulant, and it may decrease blood flow and constrict vessels, which theoretically could harm a baby. However, there's no evidence that this can happen.[3]
You can take caffeine, but moderately. The recommended limit of caffeine during pregnancy is 200 milligrams (mg) a day. So with a typical soda (like coke) containing 35 to 55 mg of caffeine, it's wise to limit yourself. But take note, it's not only the soda which can contribute caffeine intake, but also some other medicines and drinks.[3]
COCAINE
Cocaine can be found in coca plants. It is a crystalline tropane alkaloid. It is used for some medicine.
Women using cocaine while pregnant can affect her and her unborn baby in many ways. During the early months of pregnancy, it may increase the risk of miscarriage. When the drug is used late in pregnancy, it may trigger premature labor. It also may cause an unborn baby to die or to have a stroke, which can result in irreversible brain damage.[4]
Sodas like coke contains cocaine too, but the Coca-cola Company uses cocaine-free coca leaf, which means coke is safe for pregnant woman.
ASPIRIN and IBUPROFEN
Aspirin and Ibuprofen is not recommended as a pain killer during pregnancy. Like what I said before, aspirin may prevent blood from clotting.
Intaking aspirin and ibuprofen during pregnancy, especially after 32 weeks, can contribute to maternal and fetal bleeding. They can also cause the premature closure of a vessel in a baby's heart, which can lead to high blood pressure in the baby's lungs (pulmonary hypertension), and prolong labor.[5]
But in some cases, like treating a medical condition of a pregnant woman, low-dose aspirin therapy is sometimes prescribed. In an anti-phospholipid syndrome in a pregnant woman, low-dose aspirin is taken in addition with heparin.[6]
To make everything short, aspirin, as well as ibuprofen, is not safe if you are pregnant unless your health provider prescribed you to intake a low-dosed of it.
Afterword
Actually, there are other people who claimed that their friend really did the combination, making them credible sources of real-life story. Their stories even create a possibility of effectiveness. But I don't want to gamble my reputation just by saying that these things can induce miscarriage or not.
I'm telling you, BE CAREFUL, and much more useful advice DON'T PUT YOUR LIFE AT RISK. I know it's hard to be pregnant in the wrong time, but what's harder is if you die, if your baby don't want to get loose, and you gave birth to him/her with incomplete body parts and development. Conscience will definitely plague you very much.
Don't be afraid of being pregnant. You have sex with somebody and you mean it. Well, except if you were raped. Remember GOD . . .
If your parents can't accept you because you're pregnant, as well as your boyfriend, it's not the end of the world. You still have your friends, and non-government organizations who took care of pregnant girls without husbands or anything or anyone else with them.
As Filipinos say:
NASA HULI ANG PAGSISISI.
Remorse is in the end.
Sa mga hindi pa handa na magka baby dahil na rape or ano pa man.. message nalang kayo sa akin.
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