Bakgrund: I Sverige har abort varit lagligt sedan 1975. Kvinnor har rätt att själva fatta abortbeslut fram till graviditetsvecka 18. Varje år görs 30 – 40 000 aborter i Sverige. Abortupplevelsen kan vara emotionellt komplicerad för många kvinnor och varierar beroende på hur kvinnans livssituation ser ut. Syfte: Beskriva kvinnors emotionella upplevelser före och efter inducerad abort. Metod: En litteraturstudie har gjorts, som utgår från femton kvalitativa artiklar, vilka har analyserats och kvalitetsgranskats. Datainsamling utfördes via sökningar i databaserna PsychInfo, PsychArticles, PubMed samt Cinahl. Resultat: Kvinnors emotionella upplevelser vid abortbeslut samt det stöd som ges i samband med aborter påverkar kvinnans fortsatta liv i olika grad. Kvinnor uttrycker att stödet de får i samband med aborter är otillräckligt. Slutsats: För att bespara kvinnorna lidande över lång tid behöver stödet till kvinnorna i abortsituationer utvecklas. Sjuksköterskan bör därför bli medveten om kvinnors komplexa upplevelser för att kunna ge kvinnan det stöd som behövs. / Background: In Sweden, abortion has been legal since 1975, giving women the right to make the abortion decision herself until pregnancy week 18. Every year, 30 - 40 000 abortions are conducted in Sweden. The abortion experience can be emotionally difficult for many women, but varies depending on the women’s life situation. Purpose: Describe women’s emotional experiences before and after an induced abortion. Method: A literature review of fifteen qualitative articles was made. They were analyzed and quality assessed. Data collection was conducted through searches in the databases PsychInfo, PsychArticles, PubMed and Cinahl. Results: Women's emotional experiences in the abortion decision and the support she receives in relation to abortion, affect her continued life in varying degrees. Women expressed that the support they received in connection with the abortion were inadequate. Conclusion: In order to spare women suffering over a long period of time, there is a need to develop the support women receive in abortion situations. The nurse should be aware of women's complex experiences in order to give women the support they need.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2003. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-209). Also available via World Wide Web.

Nurses should play a key role in providing not only information on the physical aspect, but also the psychological/emotional aspects involved in having an abortion. The purpose of this review was to determine the appropriateness of nursing interventions to screen, counsel, and educate women pre- and post-abortion. The online databases used to conduct this integrative review of research included CINAHL, Medline, Psychinfo, and Psycharticles. Articles selected were published between 1997 and 2009 in the English language. Key search terms included "abortion," "counseling," "education," "guilt," "anxiety," "coping," "perinatal loss," and "support." Eighteen studies were reviewed, revealing the lack of screening, education, and counseling for women both before and after abortion. The current two-weeks postabortion follow-ups do not take into account the long-term emotional effects of abortion which may include anxiety, guilt, shame, isolation, stigmatization, substance abuse, and suicide. Support from nurses, family, and support groups have shown to be effective interventions.

An abortion, be it induced or spontaneous, can be a traumatic experience in the life of a woman and her family. Women can use abortion as a method of family planning or to end an unwanted pregnancy. On the contrary there are women who wish to have children of their own, but experience spontaneous abortion or recurrent abortion. When women go through an abortion they may experience different dimensions of side effects and symptoms. The women may experience physical symptoms such as blood loss, pain and sepsis as well as psychological symptoms such as despair, depression and grief. Studies indicate that women who have abortions do not receive the care that they require and are in need of high quality care. There is a need for a systematic synthesis of the best available evidence regarding interventions for nursing practitioners. This can be used to inform practice. This research study aim to critically review and synthesise best available evidence regarding the best nursing practices for women who have an abortion. This was done by conducting a thorough step-by-step systematic review with the following objectives: to critically review available research evidence on abortion care and to synthesise best practices for abortion care provided by nurses. This study can provide nursing practitioners with the necessary information about the best available evidence regarding abortion care provided by nurses. The information can be used to increase and improve the nursing practitioner’s knowledge and to promote and enhance future questions and research. Through the step-by-step use of the systematic review after a thorough search and screening of potentially relevant studies on nurses providing abortion care according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the critical appraisal and data extraction of nine final relevant studies could be used for data analysis and synthesis. Conclusion statements were drawn and later combined and synthesised, graded and evaluated to provide the current best available evidence. The research was evaluated, limitations identified and recommendations made for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research. The overall conclusion that can be drawn is there is not enough sufficient evidence to demonstrate that abortion care such as contraceptive counselling and/or psychological follow-up care provided by nurses and/or midwives before and after an induced or spontaneous abortion is sufficient and effective in reducing recurrent abortions, reducing despair, depression and grief and improving psychological consequences and increasing contraceptive usage. More research must be done on abortion nursing care. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

An abortion, be it induced or spontaneous, can be a traumatic experience in the life of a woman and her family. Women can use abortion as a method of family planning or to end an unwanted pregnancy. On the contrary there are women who wish to have children of their own, but experience spontaneous abortion or recurrent abortion. When women go through an abortion they may experience different dimensions of side effects and symptoms. The women may experience physical symptoms such as blood loss, pain and sepsis as well as psychological symptoms such as despair, depression and grief. Studies indicate that women who have abortions do not receive the care that they require and are in need of high quality care. There is a need for a systematic synthesis of the best available evidence regarding interventions for nursing practitioners. This can be used to inform practice. This research study aim to critically review and synthesise best available evidence regarding the best nursing practices for women who have an abortion. This was done by conducting a thorough step-by-step systematic review with the following objectives: to critically review available research evidence on abortion care and to synthesise best practices for abortion care provided by nurses. This study can provide nursing practitioners with the necessary information about the best available evidence regarding abortion care provided by nurses. The information can be used to increase and improve the nursing practitioner’s knowledge and to promote and enhance future questions and research. Through the step-by-step use of the systematic review after a thorough search and screening of potentially relevant studies on nurses providing abortion care according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the critical appraisal and data extraction of nine final relevant studies could be used for data analysis and synthesis. Conclusion statements were drawn and later combined and synthesised, graded and evaluated to provide the current best available evidence. The research was evaluated, limitations identified and recommendations made for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research. The overall conclusion that can be drawn is there is not enough sufficient evidence to demonstrate that abortion care such as contraceptive counselling and/or psychological follow-up care provided by nurses and/or midwives before and after an induced or spontaneous abortion is sufficient and effective in reducing recurrent abortions, reducing despair, depression and grief and improving psychological consequences and increasing contraceptive usage. More research must be done on abortion nursing care. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Chromosomal aberrations are common causes of abnormal development of fetuses leading to the birth of malformed indvidual or to the intrauterine death. Half of miscarriages in the first trimester and a third in the second trimester are caused by fetal chromosomal abnormalities, mainly aneuploidies. If fetus is abnormally developed, invasive prenatal cytogenetic diagnosis should be recommended. Positive cytogenetic finding can be reason for induced abortion till the end of 24th week of gestation. We investigated 81 miscarriages, 46 fetuses from induced abortions and 80 fetuses with abnormal development from ongoing pregnancies. G-banding analysis was used as the main method for investigating miscarriages. Genomic DNA isolated from abnormally developed fetuses was screened by array CGH technique. We found 43,75 % chromosomal abnormal miscarried fetuses, majority of them with numerical aberrations (91,4 %). In group of induced abortions, 25,71 % fetuses carried chromosomal abnormality. The lowest rate 11,67 % of chromosoal aberrations was detected in group of prenatally diagnosed fetuses from ongoing pregnancies. Array CGH detected submicroscopic aberrations in 13,41 % fetuses with ultrasound findings. All together 25,74 % microscopic and causal submicroscopic chromosomal abnormalities were found to be...

<p>The overall aim of this thesis was to study knowledge, attitudes and experience of emergency contraceptive pills among women and providers.</p><p>Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Focus-group interviews were conducted with teenage-girls (I) and with women who had purchased ECP without prescription (IV). Self-administered waiting-room questionnaires were administered to women presenting for induced abortion in three large hospitals (II, III), and after the deregulation of ECP, a postal questionnaire was sent to pharmacy staff and nurse-midwives in three counties in mid-Sweden (V). </p><p>Overall, women showed high basic awareness of ECP although specific knowledge such as the level of effectiveness, time-frames and how the method works was lacking. Approval of the method was high and most women were positive to use the method if they needed. Contradictory views as to whether ECP undermines contraceptive behavior were expressed. As many as 43% of women requesting induced abortion had a history of one or more previous abortions. Among the abortion applicants, one out of five, 22%, had previously used ECP and 3% had used it to prevent the current pregnancy. Media and friends were the two most common sources of information on ECP. Half of the women, 52%, were positive to having ECP prescription-free. Those women who had purchased ECP in a pharmacy without prescription, appreciated this possibility, and the major benefits expressed were time saving aspects. No severe side-effects were reported. The women's experiences of interaction with pharmacy staff were both positive and negative. The importance of up-to-date information about ECP and the OTC-availability from the health care providers was emphasized. Both pharmacy staff and nurse-midwives had positive attitudes towards ECP and the OTC availability. Of pharmacy staff, 38% reported that they referred women to nurse-midwives/gynecologists for further counseling and follow-ups. The need for increased communication and collaboration between pharmacies and local family planning clinics was reported by both study groups with suggestions of regular meetings for information and discussions.</p><p>The results suggest that ECP is still underused and that more factual information is needed before the method is becoming a known, accepted and integrated back-up method to the existing family planning repertoire. Longitudinal research to assess the long-term effects of ECP is needed. </p>

<p>The overall aim of this thesis was to examine the adoption of emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) in Sweden. Two cross-sectional surveys and two quasi-experimental studies were used. Reasons for induced abortion, contraceptive practices and contraceptive failure were examined in a group of abortion applicants with a waiting-room questionnaire (I) and knowledge, use and practices of ECP were assessed with a postal questionnaire in a population-based sample of young women (II). One community-based information campaign was evaluated with a repeated postal questionnaire (III) and a school-based education intervention was evaluated with repeated class-room questionnaires (IV). Abortion applicants had inadequate contraceptive practices and a low use of ECP. One year after the deregulation of ECP women were highly aware of the method and preferred the pharmacy for the purchase of ECP. Correct knowledge and positive attitudes influenced the willingness to use ECP in the future. The information campaign was noticed by two-thirds of the women and there was an overall trend towards better knowledge, improved attitudes and increased use among all women at follow-up. The school-based intervention improved the students’ knowledge of, and attitudes to, ECP without jeopardizing condom use. The adoption of ECP in Sweden seems to have gone through the first stages of diffusion of an innovation, i.e., developement, dissemination, and adoption, and has reached the stage of implementation since the studies indicated a general awareness of more than 90%, an intention to use in case of need of more than 70%, and womens’ own experience of use of around 30%. The most cited information channels were media, friends and the local Youth Clinic. ECP is gradually becoming a more widely known, accepted and used contraceptive method in Sweden, but must be considered as being only one of many tools in the prevention of unintended pregnancies.</p>

The overall aim of this thesis was to study knowledge, attitudes and experience of emergency contraceptive pills among women and providers. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Focus-group interviews were conducted with teenage-girls (I) and with women who had purchased ECP without prescription (IV). Self-administered waiting-room questionnaires were administered to women presenting for induced abortion in three large hospitals (II, III), and after the deregulation of ECP, a postal questionnaire was sent to pharmacy staff and nurse-midwives in three counties in mid-Sweden (V). Overall, women showed high basic awareness of ECP although specific knowledge such as the level of effectiveness, time-frames and how the method works was lacking. Approval of the method was high and most women were positive to use the method if they needed. Contradictory views as to whether ECP undermines contraceptive behavior were expressed. As many as 43% of women requesting induced abortion had a history of one or more previous abortions. Among the abortion applicants, one out of five, 22%, had previously used ECP and 3% had used it to prevent the current pregnancy. Media and friends were the two most common sources of information on ECP. Half of the women, 52%, were positive to having ECP prescription-free. Those women who had purchased ECP in a pharmacy without prescription, appreciated this possibility, and the major benefits expressed were time saving aspects. No severe side-effects were reported. The women's experiences of interaction with pharmacy staff were both positive and negative. The importance of up-to-date information about ECP and the OTC-availability from the health care providers was emphasized. Both pharmacy staff and nurse-midwives had positive attitudes towards ECP and the OTC availability. Of pharmacy staff, 38% reported that they referred women to nurse-midwives/gynecologists for further counseling and follow-ups. The need for increased communication and collaboration between pharmacies and local family planning clinics was reported by both study groups with suggestions of regular meetings for information and discussions. The results suggest that ECP is still underused and that more factual information is needed before the method is becoming a known, accepted and integrated back-up method to the existing family planning repertoire. Longitudinal research to assess the long-term effects of ECP is needed.