Understanding reasons why women facing unintended pregnancy seeking for abortion: a qualitative study

Objective (s): Most women، over the life cycle، experience an unintended pregnancy. A substantial proportion of unwanted pregnancies are resolved by abortion worldwide. The issue that abortions do not occur in a social vacuum، highlight the importance of understanding the reasons why women seek abortion especially in different socio-cultural contexts. The main focus of this study was to provide a better understanding why Azeri women (in Tabriz، Iran) facing unintended pregnancy seek abortion. The data were collected through 31 semi-structured in depth interviews from April to November 2012 and were analyzed using content analysis. The participants were 23 women seeking for abortion selected through purposeful sampling. All interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was conducted using the MAXQDA 2007 software. Findings fell into two main themes: perception and expectation of negative impact on life and violation of childbearing norms. Perceived threat، that is women facing unintended pregnancies، was found to be the central theme and was related to their circumstances، including their individual characteristics، socioeconomic and health status experience the spectrum of concerns and threats. Although pregnancy and childbearing mean life and regeneration but when occur untimely and unexpectedly، for most women it means threat that could result in seeking an induced abortion. Women facing unplanned pregnancy need more family and social supports.