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Patient Characteristics and Service Trends Following Abortion Legalization in Mexico City, 2007–10
Author(s) -
Mondragón y Kalb Manuel,
Ortega Armando Ahued,
Velazquez Jorge Morales,
Olavarrieta Claudia Díaz,
Rodríguez Jorge Valencia,
Becker Davida,
García Sandra G.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
studies in family planning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1728-4465
pISSN - 0039-3665
DOI - 10.1111/j.1728-4465.2011.00277.x
Subject(s) - vacuum aspiration , medicine , family planning , abortion , dilation and curettage , christian ministry , unintended pregnancy , family medicine , public health , reproductive health , population , obstetrics , gynecology , environmental health , pregnancy , nursing , research methodology , political science , law , biology , genetics
Legal abortion services have been available in public and private health facilities in Mexico City since April 2007 for pregnancies of up to 12 weeks gestation. As of January 2011, more than 50,000 procedures have been performed by Ministry of Health hospitals and clinics. We researched trends in service users' characteristics, types of procedures performed, post‐procedure complications, repeat abortions, and postabortion uptake of contraception in 15 designated hospitals from April 2007 to March 2010. The trend in procedures has been toward more medication and manual vacuum aspiration abortions and fewer done through dilation and curettage. Percentages of post‐procedure complications and repeat abortions remain low (2.3 and 0.9 percent, respectively). Uptake of postabortion contraception has increased over time; 85 percent of women selected a method in 2009–10, compared with 73 percent in 2007–08. Our findings indicate that the Ministry of Health's program provides safe services that contribute to the prevention of repeat unintended pregnancies.