Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of private obstetricians and gynaecologists towards abortion, post-abortion care, and post-abortion family planning.
Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study, from June 2017 to May 2018, using a self-administered questionnaire of 150 obstetricians/gynaecologists at private clinics, centres, hospitals in Ismailia, Egypt. The questionnaire was composed of four broad sections: section one was about the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants; section two was about physicians' knowledge, attitude and practices regarding abortion; section three was about their attitudes and practices regarding post-abortion family planning and screening for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in patients presenting for induced abortion; and section four was about the socio-demographic characteristics of women seeking induced abortion taken from the physicians' views.
Results: Only 15.2% of participants had performed an abortion for unwanted pregnancies at ≤12 weeks vs. 3.8% for unwanted pregnancies >12 weeks' gestation. The most common reason for not performing an abortion was religious prohibition (80.35% vs. 86.6% for unwanted pregnancy ≤12 and > 12 weeks, respectively). Social causes were the most common reason for seeking an induced abortion. None of the physicians used manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) for abortion or had received training in MVA. Post-abortion family planning counselling was offered by 20.5% of physicians, while 13.6% screened for STDs.
Conclusions: The majority of private obstetricians/gynaecologists in Ismailia, Egypt, do not perform abortions for unwanted pregnancies because of their religious beliefs. Post-abortion screening for STDs and family planning services are not sufficiently integrated into post-abortion care.
Keywords: Abortion care; attitude; knowledge; practice.