Predictors of Unsafe Abortion among Women Seeking Postabortion Care at the Nakuru County Referral Hospital, Nakuru County Kenya
Loading...
Date
2023
Authors
Nyachwaya, Nyakambi Samuel
Mwanzo, Isaac
Osur, Joachim
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IAJHMN
Abstract
Unsafe abortion is common all over the
world but is more prevalent in developing
countries especially Africa. Kenya is one of
the developing countries, where unsafe
abortion is a common occurrence and it
significantly contributes to maternal
mortality in the country. Even when it has
not been properly quantified in sub-Saharan
Africa, studies in Kenya show that for many
years’ unsafe abortion has caused many
maternal deaths. Nakuru County is the
fourth in the country on maternal mortality.
In the referral hospitals there has been
increased admission due to induced
abortions many of them unsafe. The main
objective of this study was to establish the
predictors of unsafe abortion among
women in Nakuru County. The specific
objectives sought to establish if
demographic factors influence the choice
for unsafe abortion, to determine the extent
to which women’s knowledge on
reproductive health affect the choice of
unsafe abortion and to determine how
socio-cultural factors influence women’s
choice for unsafe abortion in Nakuru
County. The study was conducted at the
Nakuru County referral hospital among
women seeking post-abortion care (PAC)
services. The study employed a mixed
method design comprising cross-sectional
survey, focus group discussions and key
informant interviews. The sample size of
the respondents was one hundred and
Eighteen (118) selected to fill
questionnaires using systematic sampling
from the admission and out-patient
registers. In addition, twelve community
healthcare workers (CHVs) were selected
for a Focus Group Discussion using simple
random sampling. The study used
purposive sampling to select four
healthcare workers who work at the PostAbortion Care units of Nakuru County
Referral Hospital for interviews. Trained
healthcare professionals were recruited as
research assistants, who after training
administered the semi-structured
questionnaire and conducted the focus
group discussion. The researcher conducted
the key informant interviews. The data was
then cleaned, coded, entered and analyzed
using statistical package for social
scientists (SPSS) version 25. The study
found that age group, marital status,
education level and monthly income
influenced the choice of unsafe abortion
among women in Nakuru County.
However, it was found that religion,
ethnicity, livelihood and residence of the
women do not influence the choice of
unsafe abortion among women in Nakuru
County. The study found that Reproductive
Health knowledge had statistically
significant effect on unsafe abortion as
evidenced by a t-statistic of 9.423 and
p<0.905. The study established that sociocultural factors do not affect the choice of
unsafe abortion among women in Nakuru
County. This is evidenced by t=6.258 and
p<0.05. The study recommends legal
measures are taken against healthcare
workers both in public and private health
facing helping young girls to procure
abortion unless it is to save their lives. The
study recommends use of provision
measures that deter pregnancy even in the
use family planning products, educating
young girls and women on risk of abortions
and encouraging girls to keep their
pregnancy to full term. Health education is
encouraged in the community as well as in
schools by all health care workers on use of
family planning is also recommended. The
findings of this study may be used to
develop policies & design program
interventions to alleviate the problem of
unsafe abortion.
Description
Article
Keywords
Citation
Nyachwaya, N. S., Mwanzo, I., Osur, J. (2023). Predictors of unsafe abortion among women seeking postabortion care at the Nakuru County Referral Hospital, Nakuru County Kenya. International Academic Journal of Health, Medicine and Nursing, 2(1), 292-313.