Population Council Research that makes a difference

APHA 139th Annual Meeting and Exposition
29 October–2 November 2011

Abstract

"Women's experiences of legal abortion care provided in Mexico City's public facilities: A mixed-methods study, three years after decriminalization"
Roula AbiSamra, Claudia Diaz, Sandra Garcia, Patricio Sanhueza Smith, Vanessa Cravioto, and Olimpia Gomez

Introduction
In 2007, Mexico City's legislature decriminalized pregnancy terminations done by twelve weeks' gestation. Over 50,000 procedures have since been provided in designated Mexico City Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities.

Objective
The goal of this research was to understand patients' experiences with abortion in the MOH program. Specific aims were to (1) measure characteristics, knowledge, and satisfaction of women who used misoprostol-only medical abortion compared to women who underwent the surgical protocol; (2) understand patients' perceptions of the care they received, of their own abortion experience, and of abortion in general; and (3) derive recommendations for improving the MOH program.

Methods
350 consenting women completed a questionnaire of demographics, steps taken to obtain services, and service satisfaction. A subsample of 20 patients also completed in-depth interviews (IDI) regarding their experiences. Statistical analysis includes bivariate and multiple logistic regression techniques to identify predictors of patient satisfaction with each method. Interview data are analyzed using a grounded theory approach.

Results
Preliminary quantitative results indicate that patients had a mean age of 25 years, a high-school education, and were single. Approximately 90 percent had more than one child, and women aged 24–34 favored medical abortion while those aged 15–24 favored surgical abortion. Of the 350 women, 14.4 percent had attempted to self-induce an abortion prior to obtaining medical care. Attempts to self-induce an abortion during this pregnancy (using any method) were significantly associated with having prior knowledge of medical abortion regimens. Multivariate analysis and IDI findings are expected to be complete in late February.

Learning areas

• Implementation of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
• Other professions or practice related to public health
• Program planning
  
  

Learning objectives

• Name the concerns most commonly cited by patients of the public abortion provision program.
• Compare the background characteristics, knowledge level, and satisfaction of women undergoing medical versus surgical abortion procedures.
• Discuss the perspectives that abortion patients express regarding their own abortion, the services and providers they encountered, and abortion in general.

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Offsite link: APHA 2011 conference Web site

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