Self-diagnosing the end of pregnancy after medication abortion
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15099676 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Whitney Arey (0000-0002-6495-4570, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA, corresponding author), Klaira Lerma (0000-0002-3075-9814, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA), Kari White (0000-0001-6463-8626, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 405-420 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Culture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13691058.2023.2212298 |
| PMID | 37211833 |
| OpenAlex | W4377220116 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 45 |
This qualitative study conducted between November 2020 and March 2021 in the US state of Mississippi examines the experiences of 25 people who obtained medication abortion at the state's only abortion facility. We conducted in-depth interviews with participants after their abortions until concept saturation was reached, and then analysed the content using inductive and deductive analysis. We assessed how people use embodied knowledge about their individual physical experiences such as pregnancy symptoms, a missed period, bleeding, and visual examinations of pregnancy tissue to identify the beginning and end of pregnancy. We compared this to how people use biomedical knowledge such as pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and clinical examinations to confirm their self-diagnoses. We found that most people felt confident that they could identify the beginning and end of pregnancy through embodied knowledge, especially when combined with the use of home pregnancy tests that confirmed their symptoms, experiences, and visual evidence. All participants concerned about symptoms sought follow-up care at a medical facility, whereas people who felt confident of the successful end of the pregnancy did so less often. These findings have implications for settings of restricted abortion access that have limited options for follow-up care after medication abortion
Abortion · Family medicine · Obstetrics · Pregnancy · Qualitative research · Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse · Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions · Medicine · Reproductive Health and Contraception
Recreating motherhood
Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge
Icons of Life
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Experiences Accessing Abortion Care in Alabama among Women Traveling for Services
Women's Postabortion Contraceptive Preferences and Access to Family Planning Services in Mississippi
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Motivations and Experiences of People Seeking Medication Abortion Online in the United States
Abortion incidence and service availability in the United States, 2020
The technocratic body
Self-management of medical abortion
I Know My Own Body
Interpreting Compliance and Resistance to Medical Dominance in Women's Accounts of Their Pregnancies
Deconstructing Pregnancy
Fetal Ultrasound Imaging and the Production of Authoritative Knowledge in Greece
The Production of Authoritative Knowledge in American Prenatal Care
Prenatal Diagnosis in Postwar Vietnam
Part one
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |