Legal abortion requests and outcomes for women when the law is restrictive - experience from a referral centre in south-eastern Brazil.

METHODS: Retrospective cohort study with review of medical records of women assisted between 2015 and 2020. The variables were socio-demographic and SV characteristics, gestational age, reactions towards pregnancy and outcome. We compared outcome groups using the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The significance level was 5%. RESULTS: We evaluated the medical records of 235 women, of which 153(65%) had undergone to abortion; 17(7.2%) had a spontaneous abortion; 19(8%) remained pregnant; 25(10.6%) had an abortion denied; and 21(8.9%) had been lost to follow-up. Out of the total number of women, 44(18.7%) were adolescents, 152(65.2%) were white and 201(88.5%) had an education ≥9 years. Women who remained pregnant had a known aggressor, disclosed the pregnancy (p < 0.001) and were more ambivalent (p < 0.001) than the other groups. Gestational age was higher in the denied abortion group than in the performed abortion group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Feelings related to decision-making about abortion affected all groups, with differences. It is important to give women space to be heard, so they can make their own decisions.

Abortion care is possible in places with restrictive laws; however, women with more vulnerable characteristics did not seek the service. Legal restrictions interfere with women's decision-making about abortion and can promote inequality in gaining access to health services.

Menstrual health: Inequities in a cohort of menstruating people in the Brazilian southeastern region.

OBJECTIVE: To assess menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and period poverty in a group of low- and medium-income menstruating people. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Campinas, Brazil, from January to June 2022 with 535 participants aged 18-49. For data collection, we used the abbreviated version of the WHO Quality-of-Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) and a pre-tested questionnaire with items regarding MHM and period poverty. RESULTS: We found an inverse relationship between the risk of no access to supplies to perform menstrual hygiene, which increased by 2.5% and each point less in the environmental domain of quality of life (QoL), and this risk increased by up to 3.1 times among participants who reported difficulty making ends meet. The risk of not having adequate conditions to perform menstrual hygiene at home increased by up to 2.6% for every one-point drop in the environmental domain of QoL. The risk of not having adequate conditions to perform menstrual hygiene outside the home increased by up to 1.3% for less points in the psychological domain of QoL, and 44.4% of those who indicated inadequate conditions for menstrual hygiene reported two or more childbirths. CONCLUSIONS: Menstruating people who have an increased risk of lacking menstrual supplies and have an increased risk of inadequate conditions for MHM at home and outside the home, as well as those who have two or more deliveries and those having difficulties making ends meet, scored low on the QoL, especially in the environmental and psychological dimensions.