Abortion In sub-Saharan Africa Research Articles

The unmet need for abortion law reforms and modern contraceptive uptake in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia: A systematic review

Background: It is estimated that about 68,000-70,000 deaths occur from unsafe abortions annually, with 97% of this occurring in developing countries. The reality that almost 35% of these worldwide deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa Countries alone is a lot to think about.Aim of Article: This article seeks to bring to better lamplight the direct and indirect proportional relationship between contraceptive uptake, unwanted pregnancies, abortion laws and unsafe abortions. To suggest for better abortion law reforms to reduce maternal mortalities from unsafe abortions.Discussion/Conclusion: Comprehensive male sex education, modern methods of pregnancy prevention and Reformed laws on Therapeutic Safe Abortion Care are key paths that should be taken more seriously in the quest to end the menace of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions in Sub-Saharan Africa.Restrictive abortion laws only further fuel the pathology of unsafe abortion in sub-Saharan Africa. We need to legalize safe abortion care and in fact, illegalize unsafe abortion services and/or procurement.

Protocol for a scoping review of research on abortion in sub-Saharan Africa.

Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal mortality, and access to safe abortion services remains a public health priority in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A considerable amount of abortion research exists in the region; however, the spread of existing evidence is uneven such that some countries have an acute shortage of data with others over-researched. The imbalance reflects the complexities in prioritization among researchers, academics, and funders, and undeniably impedes effective policy and advocacy efforts. This scoping review aims to identify and map the landscape of abortion research in SSA, summarize existing knowledge, and pinpoint significant gaps, both substantive and geographic, requiring further investigation. This review will provide direction for future research, investments, and offer guidance for policy and programming on safe abortion. We utilize the Joanna Briggs Institute's methodology for conducting scoping reviews. We will perform the search for articles in 8 electronic databases (i.e., PubMed, AJOL, Science Direct, SCOPUS, HINARI, Web of Knowledge, CINAHL, and WHO Regional Databases). We will include studies written in English or French language, produced or published between January 1, 2011, and July 31, 2021, and pertain directly to the subject of abortion in SSA. Using a tailored extraction frame, we will extract relevant information from publications that meet the inclusion criteria. Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis in response to key review questions. Formal ethical approval is not required, as no primary data will be collected. The findings of this study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

Intimate partner violence against adolescent girls and young women and its association with miscarriages, stillbirths and induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from demographic and health surveys.

Intimate partner violence has been associated with numerous consequences for women, including pregnancy termination. This study aimed to examine the association between intimate partner violence and pregnancy termination among adolescent girls and young women in 25 sub-Saharan African countries. Data for this study was obtained from the demographic and health surveys of 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, published between 2010 and 2019. A total of 60,563 adolescent girls and young women were included in this study. Binary logistic regression models were used in analyzing the data and the results were presented as crude odds ratios (CORs) and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) at 95% confidence interval (CI). The prevalence of intimate partner violence and pregnancy termination among adolescent girls and young women in the 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa were 19% and 10.1% respectively. In all these countries, the odds of pregnancy termination was higher among adolescent girls and young women who had ever experienced intimate partner violence, compared to those who had never experienced intimate partner violence [COR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.51–1.71], and this persisted after controlling for confounders [AOR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.48–1.68]. However, across countries, intimate partner violence had significant association with pregnancy termination among adolescent girls and young women in Angola, Chad, Congo DR and Gabon (Central Africa); Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D'lvoire, Gambia and Mali (West Africa); Comoros, Rwanda and Uganda (East Africa); and Malawi and Zambia (Southern Africa). The findings imply that reducing pregnancy termination among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa depends on the elimination of intimate partner violence. Thus, policies and programmes aimed at reducing pregnancy termination among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa, should pay particular attention to those who have history of intimate partner violence.

USA aid policy and induced abortion in sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of the Mexico City Policy

The Mexico City Policy, first announced by US President Ronald Reagan and since lifted and reinstated by presidents along partisan lines, prohibits US foreign assistance to any organisation that performs or provides counselling on abortion. Many organisations affected by this policy are also providers of modern contraception. If the policy reduces these organisations' ability to supply modern contraceptives, it could have the unintended consequence of increasing abortion rates. We empirically examined patterns of modern contraception use, pregnancies, and abortion among women in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa in response to the reinstatement and subsequent repeal of the Mexico City Policy across three presidential administrations (William Clinton, George W Bush, and Barack Obama). We combine individual-level data on pregnancies and abortions from 743 691 women, country-year data on modern contraception use, and annual data on development assistance for family planning and reproductive health in a difference-in-difference framework to examine relative changes in use of modern contraception, pregnancy, and abortion in response to the policy. We found that when the Mexico City Policy was in effect (2001-08), abortion rates rose among women in countries highly exposed to the policy by 4·8 abortions per 10 000 woman-years (95% CI 1·5 to 8·1, p=0·0041) relative to women in low-exposure countries and relative to periods when the policy was rescinded in 1995-2000 and 2009-14, a rise of approximately 40%. We found a symmetric reduction in use of modern contraception by 3·15 percentage points (relative decrease of 13·5%; 95% CI -4·9 to -1·4; p=0·0006) and increase in pregnancies by 3·2 percentage points (relative increase of 12%; 95% CI 1·6 to 4·8; p<0·0001) while the policy was enacted. Our findings suggest that curbing US assistance to family planning organisations, especially those that consider abortion as a method of family planning, increases abortion prevalence in sub-Saharan African countries most affected by the policy. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Stanford Earth Dean's Fellowship.

Health care providers' perceptions of and attitudes towards induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia: a systematic literature review of qualitative and quantitative data.

BackgroundUnsafe abortions are a serious public health problem and a major human rights issue. In low-income countries, where restrictive abortion laws are common, safe abortion care is not always available to women in need. Health care providers have an important role in the provision of abortion services. However, the shortage of health care providers in low-income countries is critical and exacerbated by the unwillingness of some health care providers to provide abortion services. The aim of this study was to identify, summarise and synthesise available research addressing health care providers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.MethodsA systematic literature search of three databases was conducted in November 2014, as well as a manual search of reference lists. The selection criteria included quantitative and qualitative research studies written in English, regardless of the year of publication, exploring health care providers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. The quality of all articles that met the inclusion criteria was assessed. The studies were critically appraised, and thematic analysis was used to synthesise the data.ResultsThirty-six studies, published during 1977 and 2014, including data from 15 different countries, met the inclusion criteria. Nine key themes were identified as influencing the health care providers’ attitudes towards induced abortions: 1) human rights, 2) gender, 3) religion, 4) access, 5) unpreparedness, 6) quality of life, 7) ambivalence 8) quality of care and 9) stigma and victimisation.ConclusionsHealth care providers in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia have moral-, social- and gender-based reservations about induced abortion. These reservations influence attitudes towards induced abortions and subsequently affect the relationship between the health care provider and the pregnant woman who wishes to have an abortion. A values clarification exercise among abortion care providers is needed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1502-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Small Bowel Prolapsed through Perforated Uterus following Illegal Induced Abortion

Two women were admitted to the emergency service with small bowel prolapsed through the vagina after a curettage for voluntary termination of pregnancy. After a short resuscitation, laparotomy was performed for ileal resection followed by ileo-ileal end to end anastomosis, extensive washing of the abdominal cavity, digital curettage of the uterine cavity, debridement and suturing of uterine perforation. This serious complication of induced abortion is a consequence of the persistence of illegal induced abortion in Sub Saharan Africa. Prevention of this situation could be best archived by better information on contraception, better health education programs and more generally by rising educational attainment of girls.

United States aid policy and induced abortion in sub-Saharan Africa

To determine whether the Mexico City Policy, a United States government policy that prohibits funding to nongovernmental organizations performing or promoting abortion, was associated with the induced abortion rate in sub-Saharan Africa. Women in 20 African countries who had induced abortions between 1994 and 2008 were identified in Demographic and Health Surveys. A country's exposure to the Mexico City Policy was considered high (or low) if its per capita assistance from the United States for family planning and reproductive health was above (or below) the median among study countries before the policy's reinstatement in 2001. Using logistic regression and a difference-in-difference design, the authors estimated the differential change in the odds of having an induced abortion among women in high exposure countries relative to low exposure countries when the policy was reinstated. The study included 261,116 women aged 15 to 44 years. A comparison of 1994-2000 with 2001-2008 revealed an adjusted odds ratio for induced abortion of 2.55 for high-exposure countries versus low-exposure countries under the policy (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.76-3.71). There was a relative decline in the use of modern contraceptives in the high-exposure countries over the same time period. The induced abortion rate in sub-Saharan Africa rose in high-exposure countries relative to low-exposure countries when the Mexico City Policy was reintroduced. Reduced financial support for family planning may have led women to substitute abortion for contraception. Regardless of one's views about abortion, the findings may have important implications for public policies governing abortion.

Abortion and contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa: how women plan their families.

Based on available evidence, this review article posits that contemporary use of abortion in sub-Saharan Africa often substitutes for and sometimes surpasses modern contraceptive practice. Some studies and some data sets indicate that this occurs not only among adolescents but also within older age groups. In several sub-Saharan cities, particularly where contraceptive use is low and access to clinical abortion is high (though largely illegal), abortion appears to be the method of choice for limiting or spacing births. Even in rural areas, women may regularly resort to abortion, often using extremely unsafe procedures, instead of contraception. Available data seem to indicate that relatively high levels of abortion correlate with low access to modern contraception, low status of women, strong sanctions against out-of-wedlock pregnancy, traditional tolerance of abortion, and availability of modern abortion practices. Abortion has been and will likely continue to be used to plan families within much of sub-Saharan Africa.

Unsupervised medical abortion with misoprostol among adolescent—what is the prospect of demedicalise abortion in sub-Saharan Africa?

Objective: To find out clinical presentation and outcome of unsupervised use of misoprostol as abortifacent among adolescents presenting with abortion complications. Methods: Case series of thirty one adolescents that presented with abortion complications following unsupervised use of misoprostol. Results: Over a period of 3 years, 31 adolescents were seen, with median age of 17 years. Twenty nine (93.5%) were unmarried and 22 (71%) were in secondary school. Pregnancy duration was 3months and above in 23 (74.2%) of the patients. The cumulative dose of misoprostol tablet ingested was 2 (400 µg) in 17 (54.8%) of the patients. Twenty three (74.2%) patients presented with incomplete abortion with mild sepsis while the remaining 8 (25.8%) patients were admitted and managed with incomplete abortion with severe sepsis. Treatments offered were manual vacuum aspiration in 23 (74.2%) patients, evacuation of retained product of conception under anaesthesia in 7 (22.6%) patients and 1 (3.2%) patient had laparotomy with uterine repair following inadvertent uterine perforation complicating curettage for incomplete abortion. Complications encountered were anaemia 67.7%, uterine perforation 3.2%, blood transfusion 9.7% and diarrhoea in 8 (25.8%) patients. Conclusion: Demedicalise abortion with misoprostol due to improper dosing protocol may be associated with incomplete abortion and its sequelae in an uninformed adolescent population. Establishment of adolescent friendly medical centre that offers post abortion care will go a long way in alleviating this problem.

Misoprostol for treatment of incomplete abortion in Sub-Saharan Africa

Misoprostol for treatment of incomplete abortion in Sub-Saharan Africa

Estimating clandestine abortion with the confidants method—results from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Data on abortion in sub-Saharan Africa are rare and non-representative. This study presents a new method to collect quantitative data on clandestine abortion, the confidants method, applied in 2001 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Preliminary qualitative work showed that individuals are aware of their close friends’ induced abortions: women usually talk to their peers about the unintended pregnancy and ask them for help in locating illegal abortion providers. In a survey of 963 women of reproductive age representative of the city of Ouagadougou, we asked respondents to list their close relations, and, for each of them, and for each of the 5 years preceding the survey, whether they had an induced abortion. According to these data, there are 40 induced abortions per 1000 women aged 15–49 in Ouagadougou annually, and 60 per 1000 women aged 15–19. Adverse health consequences followed 60% of the reported induced abortions, and 14% of them received treatment in a hospital. Extrapolating these results to the entire city, we estimate that its hospitals treat about 1000 cases of abortion complications a year. Hospital data indicate that these centers admitted 984 induced abortions (adding all “certainly”, “probably” and “possibly” induced abortions in the WHO protocol) in 2001; the age distribution of patients admitted for induced abortion also corresponds to the confidants method's projections (“certainly” induced abortions only). At least two biases could affect the abortion rates estimated by the confidants method, pertaining to the selection of the sample of relations and to the varying number of third parties involved in the abortion process. The confidants method, which is similar in its principle to the sisterhood method used to estimate maternal mortality levels, might generate accurate estimates of illegal abortion in certain contexts if these two biases are controlled for. Further testing is necessary.

Breaking the Silence on Prevention of Unsafe Abortion in Africa / Rupture du silence par rapport à la prevention de l'avortement à risquen Afrique

Breaking the Silence on Prevention of Unsafe Abortion in Africa / Rupture du silence par rapport à la prevention de l'avortement à risquen Afrique

Complications of unsafe abortion in sub-Saharan Africa: a review.

The Commonwealth Regional Health Community Secretariat undertook a study in 1994 to document the magnitude of abortion complications in Commonwealth member countries. The results of the literature review component of that study, and research gaps identified as a result of the review, are presented in this article. The literature review findings indicate a significant public health problem in the region, as measured by a high proportion of incomplete abortion patients among all hospital gynaecology admissions. The most common complications of unsafe abortion seen at health facilities were haemorrhage and sepsis. Studies on the use of manual vacuum aspiration for treating abortion complications found shorter lengths of hospital stay (and thus, lower resource costs) and a reduced need for a repeat evacuation. Very few articles focused exclusively on the cost of treating abortion complications, but authors agreed that it consumes a disproportionate amount of hospital resources. Studies on the role of men in supporting a woman's decision to abort or use contraception were similarly lacking. Articles on contraceptive behaviour and abortion reported that almost all patients suffering from abortion complications had not used an effective, or any, method of contraception prior to becoming pregnant, especially among the adolescent population; studies on post-abortion contraception are virtually nonexistent. Almost all articles on the legal aspect of abortion recommended law reform to reflect a public health, rather than a criminal, orientation. Research needs that were identified include: community-based epidemiological studies; operations research on decentralization of post-abortion care and integration of treatment with post-abortion family planning services; studies on system-wide resource use for treatment of incomplete abortion; qualitative research on the role of males in the decision to terminate pregnancy and use contraception; clinical studies on pain control medications and procedures; and case studies on the provision of safe abortion services where legally allowed.

Induced Abortion in sub-Saharan Africa: What We Do and Do Not Know

The first step in addressing the growing public health problem of abortion in sub-Saharan Africa is to gain a better understanding of the problem and its complexities. Abortion behavior is inextricably connected with issues of women's roles and opportunities, and until the various dimensions of abortion behavior and its socioeconomic context are understood, governments will have difficulty addressing the problem effectively. In addition, abortion needs to be studied within the broader framework of reproductive health. In a continent where fertility is highly valued and infertility prevalent, the interaction between abortion, practice of contraception, and fears of infertility must be fully understood if we are to have any hope of reducing the numbers of unwanted pregnancies and the morbidity and mortality caused by induced abortion.