This study centers African adolescents’ own voices and shows that when policies are less restrictive and services are easier to reach, adolescents are more likely to obtain safe care and less likely to resort to unsafe abortion methods. These findings support the push for youth-responsive services, clearer pathways to care, and reforms that reduce fear, delay, and stigma.
For far too long, Malawians’ view of termination of pregnancy has condemned women and girls to either death or permanent disability. These are needless injuries and deaths that can be prevented if only we stop looking at termination of pregnancy as a crime, moral, faith or cultural issue-but rather as public health issue.
This study estimates current health system costs of treating unsafe abortion complications and compares these findings with newly-projected costs for providing safe abortion in Malawi. It finds that transition to safe, legal abortion would yield an estimated cost reduction of 20-30 percent.
The authors propose improved survey questions about when and how people realize they are pregnant, including response options that capture physical signs, practical constraints, and emotional factors. Better measurement of pregnancy recognition can help explain why people seek care when they do, including abortion care.
This study assesed the severity of abortion complications in Malawi and determined associated risk factors. Between July 20 and September 13, 2009, a cross-sectional survey was conducted at 166 facilities providing postabortion care services.
CONTEXT: Abortion is legally restricted in Malawi, and no data are available on the incidence of the procedure. METHODS: The Abortion Incidence Complications Methodology was used to estimate levels of induced abortion in Malawi in 2009. Data on provision of postabortion care were collected from 166 public, nongovernmental and private health facilities, and estimates of the likelihood that women who have abortions experience complications and seek care were obtained from 56 key informants.