Contraception and abortion attitudes and practices of Western Ukraine women

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the attitudes and practices of contraceptive behaviors of Western Ukraine women.Methods: A survey of 500 women in the Oblast was conducted to assess their knowledge,attitudes and practices on a variety of health topics. Convenience sampling was used to access the subjects in 16 different towns/villages in nine rayons throughout the Oblast. Respondents were asked morethan 100 questions pertaining to their knowledge, attitudes and practices on a variety of health topics, including stress, contraception, breast health, sexually transmitted diseases, parity, abortion,nutrition, alcohol and tobacco use, domestic violence, and depression and mental health.Results: Of married women, 44% (112/256) would terminate their pregnancy while 56% (144/256) said theywould keep their baby. Of unmarried women, 35% (31/88) would abort while 65% (57/88) would keep their baby. A large proportion of married women (82%; 222/271) and unmarried women (70%; 52/74) did not usecondoms at all.Conclusion: These results suggest lack of birth control education and contribution to poor protection from sexually transmitted infections. Higher abortion practices may alsoplay a role in the infertility issues that Ukrainian women currently face.