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3
rd
International Congress on
Annual Summit on
October 02-03, 2017 Atlanta,USA
&
Microbiology and Pharmaceutical Microbiology
Sexual & Reproductive Health
Journal of sexual and Reproductive medicine | Volume.1, Issue.2
Contraception use and abortion trend in South Asia: A systematic review
Sairana Ahsan
1
and
Dr. Hala Evans
2
1
James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh
2
University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
Background:
Unintended pregnancies are a major public health issue worldwide resulting in numerous
complications every year. Unintended pregnancies are closely related to low utilization of contraceptive methods.
Abortion is considered as solution to the unintended pregnancies however, most of them are performed in unsafe
condition covertly. Unsafe abortions exist in all countries regardless of their economic status, religious and
cultural beliefs. Situation is worse in case of developing countries like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Aim of the study:
This study aimed to explore the reasons of usage or non-usage of contraceptive methods
and abortion procedures by women of reproductive age (15-49) in developing South Asian countries involving
Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in between the years of 2000 and 2015.
Method:
A systematic review was conducted to reflect upon the aim of this study through thematic analysis. 8
original papers of qualitative studies were selected for this review that met the inclusion criteria after extensively
searching different databases. Quality of the included studies was appraised using CASP checklist for qualitative
studies.
Findings:
This review accumulated six themes that recurred in the 8 original papers. Themes include stigma
related to birth control, fear, misconceptions and lack of information, family’s influence, economic hardship,
women’s health and service providers’ role. All of these themes related to the research aim to explore the reasons
of usage or non-usage of contraceptive methods and abortion procedures by women of reproductive age in
Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Conclusion and Implication:
This study observed that social stigma, intimate partner’s influence, misinformation
and unavailability of the birth control services are predominant factors for women to decide their reproductive
choices. Interventions related to health education, communication and promotion could offer a possible solution
for the communication gap of service providers and women in need of birth control measures. In this seminar,
I will discuss the themes that emerged through this systematic review which influence contraceptive usage and
preferred abortion procedure of women in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
sairana.ahsan@gmail.com