Abortion, knowledge and concequences

Abstract

We carried out a descriptive work in the municipality of Matanzas with the objective of identifying knowledge the interviewed patients had on anticonception and the consecuences of interrupting pregnancy for her and for the product; of measuring the promoting and preventive work carried out by the family doctor and the rest of the health care staff on anticonception and abortion themes; and of determinig if the document of “Informed Consent” is used in the consults of pregnancy interruption in the Primary and Secondary Medical Care. We chose a sample of 100 patients from the universe of those who were subjects of pregnancy interruptions in diferent ways in the municipality of Matanzas from December 2006 to february 2007. We aplied a blind, personal inquiry to these pregnat women, showing that pregnancy interruptions are made by different methods in women of different ages, from 13 to 52 years old; 72 of them were not married (single and consensual unions); most of them had pre-university scholarship; and most of them did not use anticoncetive methods. There was a great lack of knowledge on the complications that may follow an abortion, and on life they carry inside them and the respect that life deserves. In the Primary Health Care Units there are not developed preventive and prommotion activities to diminish pregnancy interruptions and to promote the correct manage of the anticonceptive methods. The document of “Informed Consent” is not used in the interruption consults.