An exploration of the reasons women give for choosing legal termination of pregnancy at Soshanguve Community Health Centre, Pretoria, South Africa

Background: Termination of pregnancy (TOP) is one of the most commonly performed gynaecological procedures in the world and was legalised in South Africa in 1996 with the passing of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996). Utilisation of the TOP service increased signif...

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Main Authors: Carrien Steyn, Indiran Govender, John Velaphi Ndimande
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2018-08-01
Series:South African Family Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/4908
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author Carrien Steyn
Indiran Govender
John Velaphi Ndimande
author_facet Carrien Steyn
Indiran Govender
John Velaphi Ndimande
author_sort Carrien Steyn
collection DOAJ
description Background: Termination of pregnancy (TOP) is one of the most commonly performed gynaecological procedures in the world and was legalised in South Africa in 1996 with the passing of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996). Utilisation of the TOP service increased significantly after the promulgation of the Act, to the extent that 7% of pregnant women in South Africa chose to terminate their pregnancies legally in 2012. Worldwide, women most commonly state their reasons for choosing TOP as a desire to stop or postpone childbearing. Although several international studies have been done in this regard, the reasons for women requesting legalised TOP in South Africa have not been explored in depth. Methods: A qualitative study using the case-study approach and involving one-on-one open interviews with participants was done at the TOP Clinic at Soshanguve Clinic 3 with the aim of gaining more insight into this issue. Results: The following themes emerged from the interviews: formal education not completed, financial difficulties, contraceptive failure, wrong timing, reasons relating to the existing family; and problems relating to the partner. Conclusion: This study also gave insight into the complex personal and social contexts within which women make the decision to terminate their pregnancy, and the thoughtfulness with which they make their decisions.
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spelling doaj-art-7abc07c133e04d5f94f9e7f9bb81d59c2025-08-20T03:43:46ZengAOSISSouth African Family Practice2078-61902078-62042018-08-0160410.4102/safp.v60i4.49083884An exploration of the reasons women give for choosing legal termination of pregnancy at Soshanguve Community Health Centre, Pretoria, South AfricaCarrien Steyn0Indiran Govender1John Velaphi Ndimande2Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences UniversitySefako Makgatho Health Sciences UniversitySefako Makgatho Health Sciences UniversityBackground: Termination of pregnancy (TOP) is one of the most commonly performed gynaecological procedures in the world and was legalised in South Africa in 1996 with the passing of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996). Utilisation of the TOP service increased significantly after the promulgation of the Act, to the extent that 7% of pregnant women in South Africa chose to terminate their pregnancies legally in 2012. Worldwide, women most commonly state their reasons for choosing TOP as a desire to stop or postpone childbearing. Although several international studies have been done in this regard, the reasons for women requesting legalised TOP in South Africa have not been explored in depth. Methods: A qualitative study using the case-study approach and involving one-on-one open interviews with participants was done at the TOP Clinic at Soshanguve Clinic 3 with the aim of gaining more insight into this issue. Results: The following themes emerged from the interviews: formal education not completed, financial difficulties, contraceptive failure, wrong timing, reasons relating to the existing family; and problems relating to the partner. Conclusion: This study also gave insight into the complex personal and social contexts within which women make the decision to terminate their pregnancy, and the thoughtfulness with which they make their decisions.https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/4908legal termination of pregnancyreasons for choosing termination of pregnancyfinancial difficultiescontraceptive failure
spellingShingle Carrien Steyn
Indiran Govender
John Velaphi Ndimande
An exploration of the reasons women give for choosing legal termination of pregnancy at Soshanguve Community Health Centre, Pretoria, South Africa
South African Family Practice
legal termination of pregnancy
reasons for choosing termination of pregnancy
financial difficulties
contraceptive failure
title An exploration of the reasons women give for choosing legal termination of pregnancy at Soshanguve Community Health Centre, Pretoria, South Africa
title_full An exploration of the reasons women give for choosing legal termination of pregnancy at Soshanguve Community Health Centre, Pretoria, South Africa
title_fullStr An exploration of the reasons women give for choosing legal termination of pregnancy at Soshanguve Community Health Centre, Pretoria, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed An exploration of the reasons women give for choosing legal termination of pregnancy at Soshanguve Community Health Centre, Pretoria, South Africa
title_short An exploration of the reasons women give for choosing legal termination of pregnancy at Soshanguve Community Health Centre, Pretoria, South Africa
title_sort exploration of the reasons women give for choosing legal termination of pregnancy at soshanguve community health centre pretoria south africa
topic legal termination of pregnancy
reasons for choosing termination of pregnancy
financial difficulties
contraceptive failure
url https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/4908
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