Induced abortion: What's happening in rural Bangladesh

Abstract

This qualitative study was done in rural Bangladesh among the women seeking abortion-related care at six health facilities in two rural sub-districts of Bangladesh in 1996–1997. It looked at contraceptive use, why women had abortions, who made the abortion decision, who provided the abortions, the complications of abortion that developed, where and how soon the women sought treatment. A majority of the women in this study availed abortion services from facilities where MR is provided. However, a quarter of the abortion procedures were dangerous or inadequate, and the number of women who developed complications was very high (43 per cent). Only 58 of 143 women attended only one provider, while 85 went on to attend a second provider. Of the 85, 37 went on to a third provider and 4 women had to be referred on to the district hospital with serious complications, of whom one died. About three-quarters of the women were not using contraception at the time of getting pregnant. Many of the dangerous abortions were the most expensive to obtain, not least because of the cost of treatment for complications. Accessibility and availability of menstrual regulation and family planning services need to be strengthened in rural Bangladesh, and training for MR service needs to be improved, along with awareness-raising on the risks of unsafe procedures in the community.