Abstract:

Aim: The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe the conditions that constitute the process of voluntarily terminating unintended pregnancies by women other than the official health institutions. Method: The study group consisted of 13 women who had experience of unintended pregnancy/intentional abortion, determined by snowball and purposeful sampling method. Questions about their miscarriage experiences were asked to the women by in-depth interview method through a semi-structured interview form. The data obtained from the interviews were categorized by hand coding and themes were reached. Results: In the study, four main themes were identified as (i) inability to benefit from health services effectively, (ii) low knowledge and awareness in this regard, (iii) fear of stigmatization due to unwanted pregnancies and (iv) the risk of resorting to abortion under the same conditions. Although it is free and accessible in primary care, it is seen that women cannot effectively benefit from family planning services. Although women experience health problems after abortion/abortion, they are at risk of resorting to miscarriage/abortion again under the same conditions. Conclusion: Primary health care workers should be aware of the barriers to women's access to family planning services. Every woman of childbearing age should be evaluated for unmet need for family planning. The need for abortion/abortion should be determined in the early period of women who have had an unwanted pregnancy, and they should be provided with access to services in healthy conditions.

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