For the doctor faced with a patient whose mothering capacities are stretched to the limit, great skill is needed to allow her to sense that he or she is on her side, and that the doctor is not denying her a sterilization, nor is being insensitive to her determination not to get pregnant again, but is trying to help her to keep her options open. Often, if such patients can be helped to delay the decision for even a few months, they will realize that they have survived, the sense of urgency will abate, and they will find it easier to settle to a method of contraception.
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