142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

309769
Incidence and Consequences of Induced Abortion in Senegal, 2012

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 4:30 PM - 4:45 PM

Gilda Sedgh, ScD , Research, Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY
Jesse Philbin, BA , Research Division, Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY
Amadou Sylla , Centre de Recherche pour le Developpement Humain, Dakar, Senegal
Salif Ndiaye , Centre de Recherche pour le Developpement Humain, Dakar, Senegal
Sarah Keogh, PhD , Research Division, Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY
Abortion is illegal in Senegal except to save a woman’s life, and is highly stigmatized. An unknown number of women nevertheless obtain abortions; because they do so clandestinely, it is difficult to ascertain the magnitude of abortion and its consequences. 

We estimate the incidence of abortion and of resulting complications in Senegal using the Abortion Incidence Complications Methodology, an estimation technique that has been used in several other countries. We conducted a nationally representative survey of 168 facilities that provide postabortion care (PAC), from which we estimated the number of women who receive PAC, and a survey of 110 professionals knowledgeable about abortion service provision, from whom we obtained assessments of the likelihood of women experiencing abortion complications and receiving treatment for those complications, and of the types of providers and methods women use to obtain abortions.

Preliminary findings indicate that abortion incidence is lower in Senegal than the average for West Africa, and that the rate is higher among women in Dakar than elsewhere in the country. Women in rural areas primarily self-induce or seek abortions from untrained traditional practitioners, while urban women have better access to doctors and trained clinicians; a similar disparity exists between poor and non-poor women. As a result, rural poor women who have an abortion are more than twice as likely to experience complications than urban non-poor women. Ingesting caustic substances and herbal solutions are among the most common methods used to terminate unwanted pregnancies. The most common complications are hemorrhage and incomplete abortion.

Learning Areas:

Program planning
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the incidence of induced abortion in Senegal Assess the proportion of abortions that result in complications, and the proportion of complications that are treated Demonstrate use of the Abortion Incidence Complications Method, a technique for estimating abortion incidence in legally restrictive contexts Identify differences by residential (urban/rural) and wealth (poor/non-poor) subgroups in incidence of abortion complications and access to post-abortion care Discuss findings in the context of Senegalese women’s reproductive health needs and current efforts to improve maternal health in Senegal

Keyword(s): Abortion, Reproductive Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am one of the investigators on the project and was responsible for supervising fieldwork and conducting data analysis.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.