A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Counselling Psychology) in the Department of Psychology University of Zululand, 2008. / Attitudes determine commitment in their broad sense, though this is rarely understood in this fashion. An abortion decision is influenced by many factors that eventually lead to such a decision just to mention a few; general health of the mother, rape, occupational status of the expectant mother and the pressure from the society. Termination of pregnancy is sometimes if not most incongruent with one's belief and morale. Midwives as trained individuals to care for the needs of the patients who want to abortion have to step over their moral judgement and provide the service (abortion). In the recent past some reports on service delivery (abortion) stated challenges that midwives face within their health institutions, as well the pressure from the general public of South Africa expressing genuine opposition to termination of pregnancy policy, times do change together with the mentally and stereotypes closely attached to termination of pregnancy, although the reproductive policies are a sensitive issue in most countries. The study focuses on the attitudes of the midwives toward termination of pregnancy and it explores the difference on attitude between public and private hospitals. The findings of the study suggest that there is difference on attitude with regards to termination of pregnancy, amongst the midwives in public and private hospitals, this discrepancy also exist amongst senior midwives compared to junior midwives. There are however, a number of reasons for this, but the obvious one maybe that senior midwives have reached self actualization in their careers and view the professional duties beyond egocentric needs and morale, and this facilitate the expected role of the health service providers, which is to cater for the needs of the desperate public.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology, 2005. / The purpose of this research is to describe the experiences of females who have undergone a termination of pregnancy. A phenomenological study was employed, in which each participant used in the research was interviewed in a single session. The sample consisted of six women who had terminated a pregnancy before. The results were presented in the form of an integrative text, which accounted for all the individual variations of the experiences of termination. The ages of women ranged from 17 to 42. All participants regarded the situation of an unplanned pregnancy as stressful. Most of them viewed having a child as a threat to their education, career or relationship with family. Although all of the participants thought some part of the procedure was more stressful than they anticipated, they all found ways to cope with differing levels of stress. All participants view themselves as coping well with the stressful life event.

Abstract Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine if an association exists between prior induced and prior spontaneous pregnancy termination (PIPT and PSPT) and preterm birth (PTB) of first live births in Virginia. Methods: Data was collected by linking maternal data from Virginia’s live birth and fetal death registries. All first live, singleton births occurring in Virginia from 2000-2007 were analyzed. Logistic regression models that controlled for various demographic, medical and obstetric history factors were used to determine associations among prior pregnancy termination types. Results: Compared with women who had no history of previous pregnancy terminations, women who had 1 (OR = 1.1, 95% CI 1.31, 1.53), 2 (OR = 1.2, 95% CI 1.12, 1.24) and 3 or more (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.07, 1.13) total prior pregnancy terminations had an increased odds of experiencing PTB. Increased odds of PTB were found for women who had 2 (OR = 1.1, 95% CI 1.05, 1.18) and 3 or more (OR = 1.3, 95% CI 1.39, 1.61) PIPTs. Women who reported 1, 2, 3 or more PSPT had PTB odds-ratios of 1.4 (95% CI 1.37, 1.50), 1.7 (95% CI 1.48, 1.98) and 3.0 (95% CI 2.09, 4.22) times, respectively. Conclusion: Two or more PIPT and one or more PSPT were found to be a significant risk factor for PTB of a first live birth in Virginia, and women having 3 or more PSPT had three times the odds of experiencing this outcome. Health practitioners should take this data into account to target research, education and action strategies to those high risk groups of women associated with obtaining induced terminations and to those women more susceptible to spontaneous termination of pregnancy.

Although abortion has been decriminalized in Canada since 1988 and is covered as a medically necessary service through territorial health insurance schemes, anecdotal evidence suggests women in Canada’s north face significant barriers to accessing care. With a population of fewer than 34,000 spread across an area that is larger than California, geographic remoteness impacts health care access and quality in Yukon Territory. This qualitative study aimed to explore the dynamics shaping access to abortion care in the Yukon, provide an opportunity for women to share their experiences, and identify possible avenues for improving service delivery. In 2015-2016, the study team conducted 16 in-depth interviews with women and 11 key informant interviews. We used an iterative analytic approach allowing for the identification of emerging codes and themes. Our findings reveal that women face a number of barriers when accessing abortion services in Yukon. Specifically, a physician referral is required, as are several pre-procedure appointments, with no one central location to obtain these services. Women expressed concerns of privacy, overcoming logistical constraints, lengthy wait times, and lack of follow-up supports. Challenges were further amplified for women residing outside of Whitehorse, the sole location to obtain abortion services in the territory. Facilitating efforts to create a more transparent and streamlined service would ease the process for women seeking care and appears warranted. The recent registration of mifepristone could serve to alleviate certain barriers, presuming that the approved regimen is affordable, evidence-based, and available at more service delivery points. Bien que l'avortement a été décriminalisé au Canada depuis 1988 et est couvert en tant que service médicalement essentiel par le biais des régimes d'assurance-santé territoriales, des évidences non confirmées suggèrent que les femmes vivant au Nord du Canada font face à des obstacles importants quant à l'accès aux soins. Avec une population de moins de 34,000 habitants répartit sur un territoire d’une superficie supérieure à celle de la Californie, les effets de l’éloignement géographique sur l'accès et la qualité des soins de santé dans le territoire du Yukon sont considérables. Cette étude qualitative visait à explorer la dynamique qui façonne l'accès aux services d'avortement au Yukon, fournir une occasion pour ces femmes de partager leurs expériences et d'identifier les alternatives possibles pour améliorer la prestation de ces services. En 2016-2016, l’equipe de recherche a effectué 16 entrevues avec des femmes et 11 entrevues avec des informateurs/acteurs clés, et avons utilisé une approche analytique itérative permettant l'identification d’une codification et des thèmes émergents. Nos résultats démontrent que les femmes font face à un certain nombre d'obstacles lors de l'accès aux services d'avortement au Yukon. En effet, une recommandation médicale est requise, de même que plusieurs rendez-vous pré-procédure et un manque de services centralisés. Les atteintes à la vie privée, les contraintes logistiques, les longs temps d’attente et le manque de suivi sont des contraintes exprimées par nos participantes. Ces défis sont encore plus important pour les femmes habitant à l'extérieur de Whitehorse qui est le seul endroit pour obtenir des services d'avortement sur le territoire. Promouvoir les efforts visant à créer des services plus transparents et simplifiés faciliteraient le processus pour les femmes qui requiert des soins et semblent nécessaires. La récente introduction de la mifépristone pourrait alléger certains obstacles, en supposant que le médicament adopté est abordable, fondé sur des preuves scientifiques, et disponible à plusieurs points de services.

Six women participated in a qualitative study to understand women's experiences with abortion. The women ranged in age from 52 to 26, and were at least five years post-abortion. A questionnaire was developed using a stress and coping model as a guide to answer the following: relevant primary and reappraisal processes; problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies; resources; and personal and environmental constraints. The results give the women's individual experiences as well as the themes that were consistent for the participants. The women all appraised the situation of an unplanned pregnancy as stressful. All of the participants viewed having the child as a threat to their education, career, or relationship with family. Although all of the women thought some part of the procedure was more stressful than they had anticipated, all found ways to cope with differing levels of stress. The women saw their friends, family, ob-gyn physicians, priest, and clinic staff as resources during the experience. The women most often reported that religious beliefs constrained their abilities to cope. They also reported a lack of information about the abortion procedure and possible physical and emotional effects as environmental constraints. Overall, all but one participant would make the same decision, and all viewed themselves as coping well with a stressful life event. / Master of Science

Feminist geographers argue that gendered bodies and power are deeply entwined (McDowell 1992; Rose 1993). However, few geographers have investigated how gender and power interact in relation to the politics of abortion access. This thesis seeks to fill this gap by conducting a feminist content analysis of six newspapers from Florida’s three largest metropolitan areas to determine how articles featuring abortion are framed. Analysis of the dataset concludes that the politicization of the abortion debate results in the erasure of women from the conversation, the identification of a pregnant women trope which homogenizes all women into one category, and Planned Parenthood’s classification as a health care provider being ignored subsumed under a recognition of its role in providing abortion services. Overall this study argues that patriarchal institutions regulate women into compulsory motherhood, thereby constraining their agency and ability to fully participate in society participate in political democracy.

Legalization of Abortion in Argentina: A Path-Dependency Reading of the Influence of the Catholic Church and the Contrast with the Uruguayan Experience Alexa Elleny Quiles Hernández Abstract Argentina's abortion laws only allow women to access a lawful procedure in cases of rape and health or life threat, and this has been driving women who do not wish to continue a pregnancy into criminal considerations and, in many cases, dangerous and unhygienic environments. The aim of this work is to delineate part of the historical path that has forged the strong relations between the Argentinean State and the Catholic Church since the colonial period and the influence this has had on restrictive abortion rights for women today despite the growing number of demands to legalize voluntary termination. To highlight this influence, this study contrasts the Argentinean experience with that of neighboring Uruguay, a country that successfully legalized abortion in 2012 and which drew an effective division between the Church and the State at an early stage, furnishing a more autonomous environment for the government to respond to citizens' needs. For this, this work takes on Paul Pierson's approach to increasing returns and path- dependency theory and researches and analyzes events, dynamics and factors that have paved...

Background: There is an increased awareness among women of child bearing age on the forms of contraceptives in South Africa. Despite this, there has been a steady rise in the number of induced abortions conducted in the country. The aim and objectives of this study was to understand the contraceptive choices of the women requesting termination of pregnancy as well as their knowledge, attitude and practice toward contraceptives in one of the District Hospitals in Western Cape, South Africa. Methods: This was a cross sectional descriptive study which was conducted in Mitchell's Plain District Hospital, among women seeking induced abortion. Women aged 18 years and older seeking elective Termination of Pregnancy were included in the study. Convenience sampling method was used to select the participants women attending the clinic and who were willing to participate. Researcher-administered questionnaires were used as a data collection tool, and the data analyzed using SPSS version 25. Correlation between socio-demographic factors and contraceptive uptake was made using chi-square and Fisher's tests. Results: Most of the participants were between the ages of 26-39 years, single, unemployed and did not have matric education. There was an acceptable knowledge on contraceptives in terms of types, sources and side effects. However, there was low uptake of contraceptives (17%) prior to falling pregnant. The most common barriers to contraceptives use were side effects, no time to visit the clinic and low level of education. Conclusion: Findings from this study showed that awareness and knowledge of contraceptives does not necessarily translate to practice. In the future, it would be worthwhile to conduct a qualitative in-depth study on decision-making and behavior of all women around contraceptives.

Termination of pregnancies is a public health concern in many developing countries. In Bangladesh women faces barrier to access health care service for pregnancy termination. Moreover induced termination is illegal, against religion and moral grounds therefore, many pregnancies termination performed by untrained and unsafe way in Bangladesh which leading to maternal morbidity and mortality. On the other side, unintended pregnancy termination such spontaneous abortion, miscarriage occurs due to disease, trauma, genetic defect or biochemical incompatibility of mother and fetus and climate change related vulnerabilities. This study investigates the prevalence and associated factors of terminated pregnancy among Bangladeshi ever-married women. Secondary data was obtained from Bangladesh Demographic Health and Survey (BDHS) for the year of 2017-18. Data was included 20127 samples of ever-married women of reproductive age 15-49 year. Descriptive analysis (chi-square test) and one way- ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) test was conducted to understand the association between factors and pregnancy termination. The study finding revealed that 21% ever-married women had terminated pregnancy and there were statistically association between terminated pregnancy and demographic, socio-economic and reproductive health related factors. Termination of pregnancy is prevalent in Bangladeshi women and need to apply health policy for preventing and intervening programme to eliminate geographic and socio-economic inequalities. For example, providing education and counselling program about reproductive health care service and family planning method help to avoid unintended or unsafe pregnancy termination.

This study explored how nurses in acute and nurse-led gynaecology wards prioritised patient caseloads ranging in diversity and number of patient conditions. Statistics show that since the introduction of medical termination of pregnancy (MTOP) procedures into the National Health Service (NHS) in 1991, the number of women having this procedure is increasing year on year. To date very little is known about the impact this procedure may have had on nursing practice. The focus of this study was to explore the nursing care when this included, and did not include, caring for women having MTOP. The study was conducted in two parts. The first qualitative study employed non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews of nurses in gynaecology and surgical wards at two hospital sites to examine the external context in which nursing decisions were made. This found that nurses in gynaecology focused on emotional or psychosocial aspects more so than surgical nurses who focused on physical aspects of patient care. The second quantitative study involved a cross-sectional survey of nurses from both ward types in two hospitals sites in Scotland. Internal constructs were examined using personality and thinking styles measures. Nurses were assessed on their emotionality, that is, the numbers of times an emotional care aspect was prioritised. This found that nurses who prioritised the emotional aspects of the task tended to be more conscientious and elected preference for a ‘people-centred’ thinking style. The context in which women have TOP is also important since the findings suggest women may benefit from being cared for in nurse-led rather than in acute wards. Knowing how a person thinks about emotional and physical aspects of care also has implications for those involved in education, and career planning.