DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2014.v02i06.018

Pages: 2034-2041

As per WHO, medical abortion is safe and effective method for termination of early pregnancy. A combination of mifepristone (200mg orally) followed by misopristol (800µg vaginally or 400 µg orally) 36-48 hrs later administered to induce abortion. Before administration of these drugs, confirmation of pregnancy, gestational age and site of pregnancy is must. These drugs should be administered under medical supervision to avoid complications like undetected extra-uterine pregnancy, incomplete abortion, septicaemia, heavy bleeding and resultant complication. Despite these recommendations, many people consider these drugs as safe and effective in the hands of untrained personals and purchase over the counter directly from the chemists without proper prescription and become victims of unsafe abortion. The present study was conducted to assess the attitude and experiences of young women towards medical abortion, self medication and to generate awareness regarding safe abortion practices. A prospective cross sectional study was carried out on 200 married women in age group between 18-35 years attending Out Patient Unit of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences (SLIMS), Bharath University, Pondicherry- 605009, INDIA employing systematic random sampling method. The socio-demographic data, obstetrical history was collected and was correlated with women’s knowledge and attitude towards medical abortion. The experiences of the women already undergone medical abortion were also recorded. The average age of women included in the study was 23.4 years ±4.2.