Unsafe abortion differentials in 2008 by age and developing country region: high burden among young women

Shah, Iqbal H; Åhman, Elisabeth

doi:10.1016/s0968-8080(12)39598-0

Cited by 124 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Because contraceptive prevalence remains low in this region (Khan & Mishra, 2008; Lesthaeghe, 2014), premarital sexuality is often associated with early motherhood and/or abortion (Neal, Chandra-Mouli, & Chou, 2015; Zabin & Kiragu, 1998). Findings from Sedgh et al (2016) showed that between 1990 and 2014, approximately 86% of all abortions worldwide occurred in low- and middle-income countries, and the most recent data disaggregated by age showed that in 2008, young women aged 15–24 years accounted for 41% of all unsafe abortions in these countries (Shah & Åhman, 2012). Early childbearing may negatively affect maternal and child health, while out-of-wedlock pregnancies may have adverse socioeconomic outcomes (Adjamagbo et Kone, 2013; Karra & Lee, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding premarital pregnancies among adolescents and young women in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Soura

Lankoande

Sanogo

et al. 2018

Cogent Social Sciences

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In developing countries, young women between 15 and 24 years of age account for more than 40% of unsafe abortions due to the high number of unwanted and/or out-of-wedlock pregnancies. However, much about the profile of adolescents and young women who usually experience premarital pregnancies remains unknown. This study sought to understand the risk of pregnancy before marriage among adolescents and young women in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. By using longitudinal data from a demographic surveillance system, we tested the explanatory power of two theoretical assumptions on premarital childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa, which assumptions are the cultural inheritance model and the social capital model. The results confirmed the explanatory power of the cultural inheritance model on the one hand and partially confirmed the power of the social capital model on the other hand. These results highlight the need for a multipronged approach to sexual and reproductive health for young people. Efforts against premarital pregnancies among adolescents and young women would be more effective if they were based on participatory approaches, incorporating actions at both community and institutional levels, as suggested by the recent Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents logical framework.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding premarital pregnancies among adolescents and young women in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Soura

Lankoande

Sanogo

et al. 2018

Cogent Social Sciences

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“…The majority of abortions are unsafe in the three major developing world regions-Africa, Asia and Latin America 1 -and the estimated age distributions of unsafe abortions for those regions have been published elsewhere. 10 Taken together, the findings suggest that the proportion of abortions among 15-19-year-olds is higher in Africa (22%) than in any other major world region. * The proportion of abortions among women in their 20s is highest in North America (57%), followed closely by Latin America (53%).…”

Section: Abortion Ratesmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Nearly all, if not all, abortions performed in countries with liberal abortion laws are legal; exceptions include, for example, abortions performed after the legally allowed gestational limit. 10 We also obtained information for countries whose laws allow for abortion to preserve the physical or mental health of the woman, if these laws are the level of legal abortion according to women's age in all countries and major territories with liberal abortion laws, or where abortion laws are interpreted liberally so that legal abortion is generally available. We present the available information from such countries, as well as subregional and regional estimates of the age-pattern of abortion for geographic areas where the national data represent the majority of the population.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Legal Abortion Levels and Trends By Woman’s Age at Termination

Sedgh¹,

Bankole²,

Singh³

et al. 2012

IPSRH

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Worldwide, the incidence of induced abortion has remained steady in recent years after declining in the 1990s and early 2000s. 1 The same is not true, however, for each individual country for which information on abortion trends is available: In many, the incidence of abortion has continued to decline, and in a few, it has risen. 2Abortion levels and trends can also vary within countries, across subgroups of women.3 Documentation of abortion incidence is unavailable in most countries with highly restrictive abortion laws, and quantitative information on the characteristics of women who have abortions in such countries-including their age, marital status and parity-is even more scarce. However, abortion data collection systems are in place in most countries with liberal abortion laws. The information obtained about women having abortions differs across these countries; age is perhaps the most commonly recorded characteristic. Groups of women with disproportionately high abortion rates likely have an exceptionally difficult time avoiding unintended pregnancies or a greater motivation to terminate such pregnancies. In many societies, young unmarried women who are sexually active might have a particularly difficult time avoiding unintended pregnancies, because fear of the stigma attached to nonmarital sexual activity can inhibit them from obtaining contraceptive services and from using methods correctly and consistently. In addition, young women may find it difficult to negotiate contraceptive use with their partners. Unplanned births among adolescents and young adults can carry high opportunity costs-sometimes forcing them to curtail their schooling and, thus, adversely affecting their future employment prospects and sometimes compromising their ability to establish stable partnerships. 4,5 On the other hand, sexual activity is less prevalent among adolescents than among women in their 20s; in settings where sexual activity is low among adolescents, abortion rates might also be low. 6Other factors that could influence the age patterns of abortion include age at marriage, desired fertility and fecundity. The average age at marriage has been increasing in many countries, 7,8 and the risk of unintended pregnancy and abortion among sexually active women in their 20s may also be increasing. Women who are reaching the end of their reproductive years, are sexually active and fecund, and have completed their desired family size are also at risk of unintended pregnancy and abortion. The most recent prior assessments of abortion incidence across age-groups of women are for the mid-1990s and for 2003; 3,9 however, patterns in age-specific abortion levels in many countries may have changed since then.

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“…36 A recent article examining age-specific unsafe abortion globally has found that almost half (41%) of unsafe abortions in developing regions are among young women aged 15-24 years. 37 Worldwide, the prevalence of contraceptive use among young people is growing, but is characterised by shorter periods of use and higher rates of discontinuation, 38 due to adolescents having sex only intermittently, fear, embarrassment, lack of knowledge, lack of sensitivity/ willingness of health care providers to provide services to young women and men, and the prohibitive cost of services.…”

Section: Reducing Unwanted/unplanned Pregnancies Among Adolescentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring improvements in sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa

Seims

Khadduri²

2012

Reproductive Health Matters

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Recent studies on development aid from European donors revealed that their funding of the health sector in sub-Saharan Africa rarely includes performance measures suitable for tracking operational progress in improving sexual and reproductive health and rights. Analysis of health sector agreements verifies this. Particularly lacking are metrics related to four critically important areas: 1) reducing mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortion, 2) preventing and treating gender-based violence, 3) reducing unwanted pregnancies among the poorest women, and 4) reducing unwanted pregnancies among adolescents. During 2011 and the first half of 2012, the authors interviewed 85 experts in health service delivery, ministries of health, human rights, development economics and social science from sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the United States. We asked them to identify measures to assess progress in these areas, and built on their responses to propose up to four practical performance measures for each of the areas, for inclusion in health sector support agreements. These measures are meant to supplement, not replace, current population-based measures such as changes in maternal mortality ratios. The feasibility of using these performance measures requires political commitment from donors and governments, investment in baseline data, and expanding the role of sexual and reproductive health and rights civil society in determining priorities.

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Unsafe abortion differentials in 2008 by age and developing country region: high burden among young women

Cited by 124 publications

References 2 publications

Understanding premarital pregnancies among adolescents and young women in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Understanding premarital pregnancies among adolescents and young women in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Legal Abortion Levels and Trends By Woman’s Age at Termination

Measuring improvements in sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa

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