Abstract
In 2011 a protocol for medical abortions (MA) up to 49 days of pregnancy was approved by the Ministry of Health of Catalonia’s autonomous government and it was progressively introduced through the public network of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Units (SRHU). In 2014, a new protocol extended to 63 days of pregnancy was set up. Data come from the official abortion registry held by the Ministry of Health, which collects statistical data from all abortions performed in Catalonia. Since 2011, the number and rate of abortions in Catalonia have decreased while the number of health centers providing abortions has increased, especially the SRHU. The proportion of MA abortions went from 0.4% (2010) to 36.9% (2014), while the percentage of early abortions (up to 7 weeks) surged by 14.7%. SRHU reported 73.4% of all MA and hospitals performed 18.7% of the total, while outpatient centers accounted for the remaining 7.9%. Compared to surgical abortions, women having had MA have higher levels of education and lower rates of unemployment. Furthermore, they have more living offspring and fewer previous terminations as well as more frequent attendance to a public family planning center.
Highlights
Medical abortion (MA), a non-surgical intervention which involves the use of medication for the termination of pregnancy (TOP), has become a good alternative, since the availability of prostaglandins and antiprogestins [1]
In 2011 a protocol for medical abortions (MA) up to 49 days of pregnancy was approved by the Ministry of Health of Catalonia’s autonomous government and it was progressively introduced through the public network of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Units (SRHU)
This study presents the results of the implementation of the program for early medical abortion in Catalonia
Summary
Medical abortion (MA), a non-surgical intervention which involves the use of medication for the termination of pregnancy (TOP), has become a good alternative, since the availability of prostaglandins and antiprogestins [1]. Development of these medical termination strategies can overcome the problems of availability of services in some geographic areas and can enable women to have more control and choices [2]. MA as a method of TOP has had a sharp increase, mainly in the SRHU In the hospitals it was used only in a few cases in 2010, representing the 0.0% (5) of the all terminations before the program and in 6.5% (1245) of all abortions performed in 2014. Surgical options have decreased are still accounting for more than 50% of the abortions performed in 2014 (61.7%) (10,464)
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