Legal abortion in cases of sexual violence pregnancy: perceptions and experiences of obstetricians

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the perceptions of obstetricians and gynecology-obstetrics residents at a federal school maternity hospital regarding legal abortion in cases of sexual violence pregnancy, understand their motivations, strengths, and feelings, and identify their experience with this topic. The first stage consisted of answering a self-administered questionnaire. The selection criteria were: obstetricians linked to the obstetric center, director of the medical division, and residents of the institution's obstetrics-gynecology program. In total, 36 questionnaires were answered and returned. The second stage corresponded to an interview using a saturation sampling criterion. Six physicians were interviewed. The interviews were evaluated using a thematic content analysis. The questionnaires showed that all participants had already provided care to women in situations of sexual violence and that most of them had already participated in a legal abortion procedure in these cases. The interviews highlighted the dilemmas faced by professionals in providing care to these women and the lack of professional training to handle these cases. The speeches of women were sometimes seen as an object of suspicion regarding the veracity of sexual violence, and sometimes as an object that caused professionals to feel emotionally affected while listening to them, allowing professionals to approach the victims and offer more humanized care. The results pointed to the importance of addressing this topic in the areas of health and providing training beyond the technical-scientific focus in order to support the development of new care strategies.