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Abortion care seeking in India: patterns and predictors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 September 2019

Palak Sharma Open the ORCID record for Palak Sharma [Opens in a new window]  and
Manas Ranjan Pradhan Open the ORCID record for Manas Ranjan Pradhan [Opens in a new window]
Palak Sharma*
Affiliation:
International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India
Manas Ranjan Pradhan
Affiliation:
International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Unsafe abortions remain a considerable public health problem and continue to be a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality throughout the world. This study assessed whether women’s choice of type of health care facility for abortion in India varied by their socio-demographic and economic characteristics, and aimed to determine the significant predictors of choice of health care facility. Data were taken from the 2015–16 Indian National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-4). The study sample included women aged 15–49 years, irrespective of their marital status, who had terminated their last pregnancy by induced abortion in the five years before the survey (N = 6876). A bivariate analysis was carried out to assess the pattern in the choice of health care facility type for an abortion, and a multinomial logistic regression model was fitted to assess the predictors affecting the choice of health care facility type for an abortion. The results showed that, at the time of the 2015–16 survey, women in India went to private facilities more than public facilities for abortion care, irrespective of their age, distance to facility and financial constraints. The probability of visiting a private facility increased with women’s age, gestational age and the wealth quintile. A wide variation in choice of health facility for abortion care by socioeconomic characteristics was observed.

Keywords

AbortionReproductive HealthMaternal and child health
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , May 2020 , pp. 353 - 365
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

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