IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i12p2854-d190482.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Role of Social and Informational Support while Deciding on Pregnancy Termination for Medical Reasons

Author

Listed:
  • Kornelia Zaręba

    (First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center of Postgraduate Medical Education, 00-416 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Marta Makara-Studzińska

    (Faculty of Clinical Health Psychology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-501 Krakow, Poland)

  • Michał Ciebiera

    (Second Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center of Postgraduate Medical Education, 01-809 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Jacek Gierus

    (Department of Psychiatry, Department of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, 05-802 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Grzegorz Jakiel

    (First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center of Postgraduate Medical Education, 00-416 Warsaw, Poland)

Abstract

Background : Poland is a country with restrictive laws concerning abortion, which is only allowed if the mother’s life and health are in danger, in case of rape, and severe defects in the fetus. This paper specifies the forms of support expected by women considering termination from their family, people in their surroundings and professional medical personnel. Methods : Between June 2014 and May 2016 patients eligible to terminate a pregnancy for medical reasons were asked to complete an anonymous survey consisting of sixty questions to determine patient profile and forms of support expected from the society, family and professional medical personnel as well as to assess informational support provided. Results : Women do not take into consideration society’s opinion on pregnancy termination (95%). The majority of the respondents think that financial support from the state is not sufficient to provide for sick children (81%). Despite claiming to have a medium standard of life (75%), nearly half of the respondents (45%) say that they do not have the financial resources to take care of a sick child. The women have informed their partner (97%) and closest family members (82%) and a low percentage have informed friends (32%). Nearly one third (31%) have not talked to the attending gynecologist about their decision. Conclusions : The decision to terminate a pregnancy is made by mature women with a stable life situation—supported by their partner and close family. They do not expect systemic support, as they believe it is marginal, and only seek emotional support from their closest family. They appreciate support provided by professional medical personnel if it is personal.

Suggested Citation

  • Kornelia Zaręba & Marta Makara-Studzińska & Michał Ciebiera & Jacek Gierus & Grzegorz Jakiel, 2018. "Role of Social and Informational Support while Deciding on Pregnancy Termination for Medical Reasons," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:12:p:2854-:d:190482
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2854/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2854/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steinberg, Julia Renee & Russo, Nancy F., 2008. "Abortion and anxiety: What's the relationship?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 238-252, July.
    2. Erikson, Susan L., 2003. "Post-diagnostic abortion in Germany: reproduction gone awry, again?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(9), pages 1987-2001, May.
    3. Mónica Frederico & Kristien Michielsen & Carlos Arnaldo & Peter Decat, 2018. "Factors Influencing Abortion Decision-Making Processes among Young Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-13, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kornelia Zaręba & Stanisław Wójtowicz & Jolanta Banasiewicz & Krzysztof Herman & Grzegorz Jakiel, 2021. "The Influence of Abortion Law on the Frequency of Pregnancy Terminations—A Retrospective Comparative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Kornelia Zaręba & Valentina Lucia La Rosa & Michał Ciebiera & Marta Makara-Studzińska & Jacek Gierus & Grzegorz Jakiel, 2019. "Psychosocial Profile and Reproductive Decisions of Women Undergoing Pregnancy Termination for Medical Reasons—A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-9, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Steinberg, Julia R. & Tschann, Jeanne M., 2013. "Childhood adversities and subsequent risk of one or multiple abortions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 53-59.
    2. Panter-Brick, Catherine & Eggerman, Mark, 2018. "The field of medical anthropology in Social Science & Medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 233-239.
    3. Jon Øyvind Odland, 2018. "Teenage Reproductive Health: Pregnancy, Contraception, Unsafe Abortion, Fertility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-4, June.
    4. Kelly, Kimberly, 2014. "The spread of ‘Post Abortion Syndrome’ as social diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 18-25.
    5. Hashiloni-Dolev, Yael & Shkedi, Shiri, 2007. "On new reproductive technologies and family ethics: Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for sibling donor in Israel and Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(10), pages 2081-2092, November.
    6. Steinberg, Julia R. & Finer, Lawrence B., 2011. "Examining the association of abortion history and current mental health: A reanalysis of the National Comorbidity Survey using a common-risk-factors model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 72-82, January.
    7. Steinberg, Julia R. & Tschann, Jeanne M. & Furgerson, Dorothy & Harper, Cynthia C., 2016. "Psychosocial factors and pre-abortion psychological health: The significance of stigma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 67-75.
    8. Yui Koiwa & Eri Shishido & Shigeko Horiuchi, 2024. "Factors Influencing Abortion Decision-Making of Adolescents and Young Women: A Narrative Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(3), pages 1-24, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:12:p:2854-:d:190482. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.