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Reasons for second trimester abortions in England and Wales

Reasons for second trimester abortions in England and Wales
Reasons for second trimester abortions in England and Wales
This paper summarises the findings of a study on second trimester abortion in England and Wales in 2005. Second trimester abortions constitute a relatively small proportion of the total number of legal abortions performed in these countries yet attract quite substantial public, and particularly media, attention. Discussion of these abortions has, however, been conducted within a context of little understanding of the factors which explain why they happen. This paper starts with a brief introduction to the policy context for provision of second trimester abortion, and a summary of existing research in the area. It then presents the results of a survey of 883 women of their own reasons why they had abortions in the second trimester. The key concept is that of ‘‘delay’’ and reasons for delay in seeking or obtaining abortion at five stages in the pathway to abortion. No clear, single reason emerges. Amongst the main reasons identified are uncertainty about what to do if they were pregnant, not realising they were pregnant, experiencing bleeding which may have been confused with continuing to have periods, and changes in personal circumstances. The paper ends with a consideration of the implications of the results for education, policy development and service provision.
abortion, sexual health, late abortion, termination, second trimester abortion, reasons for delay in obtaining abortions, England, Wales
0968-8080
18-29
Ingham, Roger
e3f11583-dc06-474f-9b36-4536dc3f7b99
Lee, Ellie
f8cddd16-3094-4e1f-ac38-eba17c72cb4a
Clements, Steve Joanne
6f6e7d36-e706-4024-951e-f95a9ce695c1
Stone, Nicole
39001f79-4193-4106-9490-152c2f018958
Ingham, Roger
e3f11583-dc06-474f-9b36-4536dc3f7b99
Lee, Ellie
f8cddd16-3094-4e1f-ac38-eba17c72cb4a
Clements, Steve Joanne
6f6e7d36-e706-4024-951e-f95a9ce695c1
Stone, Nicole
39001f79-4193-4106-9490-152c2f018958

Ingham, Roger, Lee, Ellie, Clements, Steve Joanne and Stone, Nicole (2008) Reasons for second trimester abortions in England and Wales. Reproductive Health Matters, 16 (31), 18-29. (doi:10.1016/S0968-8080(08)31375-5).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper summarises the findings of a study on second trimester abortion in England and Wales in 2005. Second trimester abortions constitute a relatively small proportion of the total number of legal abortions performed in these countries yet attract quite substantial public, and particularly media, attention. Discussion of these abortions has, however, been conducted within a context of little understanding of the factors which explain why they happen. This paper starts with a brief introduction to the policy context for provision of second trimester abortion, and a summary of existing research in the area. It then presents the results of a survey of 883 women of their own reasons why they had abortions in the second trimester. The key concept is that of ‘‘delay’’ and reasons for delay in seeking or obtaining abortion at five stages in the pathway to abortion. No clear, single reason emerges. Amongst the main reasons identified are uncertainty about what to do if they were pregnant, not realising they were pregnant, experiencing bleeding which may have been confused with continuing to have periods, and changes in personal circumstances. The paper ends with a consideration of the implications of the results for education, policy development and service provision.

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More information

Published date: 4 August 2008
Keywords: abortion, sexual health, late abortion, termination, second trimester abortion, reasons for delay in obtaining abortions, England, Wales
Organisations: Psychology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 54126
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/54126
ISSN: 0968-8080
PURE UUID: 43b00797-344a-401f-bcd5-1f9d54961457
ORCID for Nicole Stone: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0995-8699

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 04 Aug 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:53

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Contributors

Author: Roger Ingham
Author: Ellie Lee
Author: Steve Joanne Clements
Author: Nicole Stone ORCID iD

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