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SPOILER - question about what happened to Pamela

posted 19 years ago by dmasursky
10 replies | jump to latest

Even the other women in prison who had performed abortions said that what Vera was doing to induce misacarriage was safe . . . what exactly happened to Pamela Barnes? Why did she get so sick?

[–] jennie_rizan 19 years ago

It could have been anything, really. Probably some sort of infection. There can be so many complications, and even if she had performed hundreds of "successful" abortions, I don't think that anything is those days was completely "safe".

"Excuse me for thinking that the banana eating contest was about eating bananas!"

[–] tltl2 19 years ago

Another take is that she was advising to get homeopathic meds to induce abortion.

[–] ohlou326 18 years ago

the equipment vera was using wasnt sterilized, so she probably got a nasty infection. which was very common in back alley abortions.

my facts may be a little off, but i remember reading about a turn of the century doctor in europe who noticed a sharp decline in the mortality rates of new mothers if the doctor attending her WASHED HIS HANDS. he published his findings, and was laughed out of the medical profession. today, fortunately, we realize the importance of cleanliness and sterilization.

[–] outofcornflakes 18 years ago

i always assumed that it was an alergic reaction or something, because she seemed to be the only one that had trouble during the actual procedure.

[–] S-E-Rose 18 years ago

Vera uses chemistry to induce abortions. She uses a Higginson syringe—an enema tube-and-bulb apparatus—to administer a douche solution made from carbolic acid soap shavings
Carbolic acid is a venerable term for phenol, which ionizes slightly in solution and therefore acts as a mild acid.

Carbolic acid solutions induces abortion when administered internally, but this can cause life-threatening side effects.
uses chemistry to induce abortions. She uses a Higginson syringe—an enema tube-and-bulb apparatus—to administer a douche solution made from carbolic acid soap shavings
ref. http://pubs.acs.org/cen/reelscience/reviews/vera_drake/

[–] Sanjuro-15 18 years ago

She seemed to be the only one who had problems, but we don't really know for sure. It was only because the mother knew who Vera was that the police found her. She never told any of the girls who she was and never saw them again after the operation. Did the black girl survive? Would anyone be able to trace her untimely death back to Vera if she had done? Would they even bother trying? The doctor said he deals with girls like this every weekend, for all we know every one of Vera's girls might have reacted the same way

So many things to think about in this film, I hope Mike Leigh makes many more!

[–] taylorje 18 years ago

I think if any of Vera's "girls" had actually died, no one would care enough to demand an official investigation. They were poor, living away from their families (if they had a family), they just didn't matter.

[–] kinchradio 16 years ago

Fri. at 5:00PM seemed to be Vera's preferred time to abort. One of the investigators said we have girls showing up every weekend with Pamela's problem. My guess a lot of Vera's "patients" showed up at the ER. It's not like she left a number to call her if there were complications.

[–] TooSlim 16 years ago

I would think others like Vera would be doing it at the same time, not just her. If you remember, these are all poor people who can not afford to miss work. If you are going to be incapacitated within 24-48 hrs as Vera told each patient of hers, you would want to do it on Friday evening to allow recovery time.

[–] HHalb94479 16 years ago

She got an infection from the syringe. If you watch carefully, when she performed the abortion on the black girl she places the pan back under the bed, it was being used as a chamber pot. There would have been all sorts of fecal bacteria and stuff living in it. The next appointment she had didn't go through with the abortion leaving Pamela Barnes to be the recipient of the infection causing bacteria.