Reproductive awareness and recognition of unintended pregnancy: young women, key informants and health care providers perspectives in South Africa.
Reprod Health
; 18(1): 211, 2021 Oct 26.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34702283
South Africa has one of the world's most progressive legal frameworks for abortion, yet it's not uncommon for women to struggle to access safe abortion services. A key reason for this is late recognition of an unplanned pregnancy. This study explored the lived experiences leading up to pregnancy confirmation among women securing abortion care beyond 9 weeks gestational age, the legal limit for home use of medication for abortion. It fills a gap by also including providers' and policy makers' perspectives on ways to strengthen women's prompt recognition of pregnancy. Using group discussions and in-depth interviews we elicited information from 40 women and 7 providers and policy makers in two health subdistricts in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Our findings highlight the process of pregnancy recognition and confirmation and women's knowledge of fertility, the menstrual cycle and when to test for pregnancy. Our results suggest that factors influencing women's recognition of pregnancy are at the individual and at community level. Health care providers and policy makers suggested the use of community-based services to raise awareness around early pregnancy testing, and to expand easy access to self-testing outside the formal clinic setting as a mechanism to overcome clinic-based barriers.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Aborto Inducido
/
Embarazo no Planeado
Tipo de estudio:
Qualitative_research
Límite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
País/Región como asunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Reprod Health
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Sudáfrica