Abortion experience among obstetric patients at Korle-Bu Hospital, Accra, Ghana

Abstract

Summary Among obstetric patients with at least one previous pregnancy, over 20% reported having at least one induced abortion. Abortion experience was more common among women at lower gravidities and among women with the highest levels of education, suggesting that abortion is most used to delay the first birth, particularly for young women still at school. This is in contrast to the situation in Latin America where abortion is used most often to limit family size. The proportion of women who reported that they used contraception prior to the pregnancy was low, suggesting that knowledge of attitudes towards and availability of family planning services needs to be improved.