Health care professionals' experiences of providing legal abortion care in Mexico City's public facilities: Three years after decriminalization

Introduction: In April 2007, the Legislative Assembly in Mexico City reformed its penal code to legalize termination of pregnancy within the first twelve weeks of gestation. Over 50,000 procedures have since been provided in designated Mexico City Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities. Objective: The goal of this qualitative study was to understand the experiences of providers (physicians, nurses and social workers) with abortion in the MOH program. Specific aims were to (1) characterize providers' knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding abortion and its legal provision; (2) understand providers' perceptions of their own work and of the patients they serve; and (3) derive recommendations for improving the MOH program. Methods: Between February and July 2010 we conducted in-depth interviews (IDI) with 20 abortion care providers regarding their experiences. Most interview themes were identical across the three professions represented (physician, nurse, social worker). Microsoft Word 2003 and MAXQDA were chosen to store IDI data and conduct analysis using a grounded theory approach. Results: Of the 20 participants, 6 were physicians, 7 were nurses, and 7 were social workers. IDI analysis is underway and expected to be completed in late February. In addition to building international knowledge on the experiences of abortion care providers, our research will also yield recommendations for Mexico City Ministry of Health administrators and other key stakeholders.