Introduction: Unsafe abortions account for about 5% maternal deaths in India. A very small proportion of induced abortions takes place at registered facilities, and many women prefer taking abortion pills as a method of contraception. The current study was planned to explore the factors related to use of abortion pills and knowledge about various contraceptives among slum-dwelling women.
Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in the urban slum area catered by a public health dispensary for 2 months among 22 females. Data collection was performed using a semi structured interview schedule for quantitative data, and focused group discussion (FGD) was performed for qualitative data collection. Thematic data analysis was performed for FGD. Themes pertaining to knowledge, ease of use, and source and side effects of abortion pills, knowledge, use, and fears/myths for modern contraceptive methods were identified.
Results: A total of 35 unwanted pregnancies were reported by 22 women study participants, out of which only three were continued. Most study participants came to know about abortion pills from their neighborhood friends or maternal relatives such as sisters, and 90% of them preferred either chemists or local private practitioners for getting abortion pills. Fears and myths for modern contraceptive methods, their non-regular supply, and easy availability of abortion pills were the main reason for their use.
Conclusion: The study highlights women’s perspective of using abortion pills over modern contraceptive methods as a method to limit their family size or for spacing and highlights the lack of family planning counseling. Such a situation calls for enhanced counseling services for modern contraceptive methods and health promotion programs to alleviate fears about contraceptive methods.
Rani M, Bairwa M, Sharma N, Jaswal N, Kumar R. Use of abortion pills as a family planning method among women living in urban slum of North India – A mixed‑method study. Med J DY Patil Vidyapeeth 0;0:0.