Private Medical Providers' Knowledge and Practices Concerning Medical Abortion in Nigeria

Bibliographic Data

ID10796936
AuthorsFriday E Okonofua, Friday Okonofua (0000-0002-8777-2606, Social Action, corresponding author), Afolabi Hammed (Social Action), Tajudeen Abass (Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital), Abdulkarim Garba Mairiga, Abdulkarim Mairiga (University of Maiduguri), Abubakar Bako Mohammed (Sa'adu Zungur University), Adeniyi Adewale, Adeniyi J Adewale (0009-0000-4391-4361), Danjuma Garba
Year2011
Volume42
Issue1
Pages41-50
Publication date2011-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Family Planning (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0039-3665 • E-ISSN: 1728-4465
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1728-4465.2011.00263.x
PMID21500700
OpenAlexW2027112416
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited24

To investigate the knowledge and practices regarding medical abortion and postabortion care in northern Nigeria among private physicians—the principal providers of such services in the area—122 doctors operating separate clinics in five states—Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Niger, and Taraba—were interviewed by means of a structured questionnaire. The results showed that 22 percent of the doctors reported that they terminate unwanted pregnancies, whereas nearly all reported that they manage complications of unsafe abortion. Manual vacuum aspiration and dilatation and curettage performed singly or in combination were the most common methods of abortion and postabortion care reported by the doctors. Only one doctor reported exclusive use of medical abortion in the first trimester, and three reported its exclusive use in the second trimester. Only 35 percent of the doctors listed misoprostol as a drug that they knew could be used for abortion and postabortion care, and only 12 percent listed mifepristone. By contrast, 49 percent listed inappropriate or dangerous drugs for use in abortion provision in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. We conclude that private practitioners in northern Nigeria have limited knowledge of medical abortion and postabortion care, and that a capacity‐building program on the subject should be instituted for them

Abortion · Curettage · Environmental health · Family medicine · Family planning · Incomplete Abortion · Medical abortion · Misoprostol · Obstetrics · Population · Pregnancy · Research methodology · Unsafe abortion · Vacuum aspiration · Medicine · Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Surgery

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