Contraception and reproductive planning from the perspective of women with sickle cell disease

Abstract

Objective To understand the perceptions of women with sickle cell disease (SCD) about reproductive planning in a public health service. Method This is a qualitative study conducted with 15 women with SCD attended at a public hospital in Recife, between August 2018 and May 2019. Bardin’s content analysis technique was used. Results The women were between 25 and 38 years old, married, and had low education. After the analysis, four thematic categories emerged: information about contraception, use of contraceptive methods, feelings about pregnancy, and gynecological consultation. It was found that women with SCD are influenced by factors such as fear of complications during pregnancy, lack of information on reproductive planning, partners and health professional opinion, and difficulties in health service access. Final considerations The reports demonstrate that health workers need to improve the way through which information reaches the patient, to offer a more satisfactory professional practice.

Infertility and treatment‐seeking practices among females and males with sickle cell disease in the Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium registry

“…In a previous report utilizing the same dataset as ours, hydroxyurea was found to be associated with miscarriage 26 ; however, it should be noted that repeat pregnancy loss indicates that women with SCD are influenced by factors such as fear of pregnancy complications, increased pain during the pregnancy and birth, and overall lack of information from healthcare providers on reproductive planning. 27 Although our results demonstrated an increased risk of infertility with increasing age to the early thirties, the risk was not linear with the oldest age group. It is possible that individuals with infertility were underrepresented in the oldest age group.…”

“…Social influence on pregnancy seeking further complicates the use of pregnancy to infer fecundity. Research indicates that women with SCD are influenced by factors such as fear of pregnancy complications, increased pain during the pregnancy and birth, and overall lack of information from healthcare providers on reproductive planning 27 …”