Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
##common.pageHeaderLogo.altText##

Original article

Vol. 142 No. 2122 (2012)

Views of healthcare professionals dealing with legal termination of pregnancy up to 12 WA in French-speaking Switzerland

  • Eliane Perrin
  • Marianne Berthoud
  • Murielle Pott
  • Anna Giselle Toledo Vera
  • Francesco Bianchi-Demicheli
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2012.13584
Cite this as:
Swiss Med Wkly. 2012;142:w13584
Published
20.05.2012

Summary

BACKGROUND: In 2002, by popular vote, Swiss citizens accepted to legalise termination of pregnancy (TOP), up to the 12th week of amenorrhoea (WA). As a result, the cantons formulated rules of application. In 2002, medical TOP was authorised. Health institutions then had to modify their procedures and practices.

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY/PRINCIPLES: What are the views of healthcare professionals on the modifications of procedures and practices implemented in French-speaking Switzerland?

METHODS: Qualitative method: in-depth interviews with 77 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and midwives, and sexual and reproductive health social workers. Voluntary participation. Thematic analysis with content analysis software.

RESULTS: Most professionals have a balanced point of view on their practices. There is no point of view specific to each different category of professionals interviewed. They are unanimous on the elimination of the need for a second opinion. The points of view diverge on the usefulness of imposed waiting time to think before TOP, minors’ access to TOP without parental consent, access to medical TOP and the right to refuse to practice TOP for personal reasons in public hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS: The professionals do not question women’s right to have TOP up to 12 WA, but they do diverge over procedures and practices. Institutional and cantonal cultures are probably behind these differences.

References

  1. Boland R, Katzive L. Developments in laws on induced abortion: 1998–2007. Int Fam Plan Perspect. 2008;34(3):110–20.
  2. Perrin E, Berthoud M, Pott M, Toledo Vera AG, Perrenoud D, Bianchi-Demicheli F. Clinical courses in women undergoing termination of pregnancy within the legal time limit in French-speaking Switzerland. Swiss Med Wkly. 2011;141:w13282. http://www.smw.ch
  3. Hammarstedt M, Jacobsson L, Wulff M, Lalos A. Views of midwives and gynaecologists on legal abortion – a population-based study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2005;84:58–64.
  4. Hammarstedt M, Lalos A, Wulff M. A population-based study of Swedish gynaecologists’ experiences of working in abortion care. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2006;85:229–35.
  5. Lindström M, Jacobsson L, Wulff M, Lalos A. Midwives’ experiences of encountering women seeking an abortion. J Psychosom Obstet & Gynaecol. 2007;28(4):231–7.
  6. Bianchi-Demicheli F, Perrin E, Dupanloup A, Dumont P, Bonnet J, Berthoud M, et al. Contraceptive counselling and social representations: a qualitative study. Swiss Med Wkly. 2006;136:127–34. http://www.smw.ch
  7. Bianchi-Demicheli F, Perrin E, Bianchi PG, Dumont P, Lüdicke F, Campana A. Contraceptive practice before and after termination of pregnancy: a prospective study. Contraception. 2003;67:107–13.
  8. Bianchi-Demicheli F, Perrin E, Lüdicke F, Bianchi PG, Chatton D, Campana A. Termination of pregnancy and women’s sexuality. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2002;53(1):48–53.
  9. Bianchi-Demicheli F, Perrin E, Lüdicke F, Campana A. Contraception and sexuality after induced abortion: a comparison between Lugano and Geneva. Swiss Med Wkly. 2001;131:515–20. http://www.smw.ch
  10. Bianchi-Demicheli F, Perrin E, Lüdicke F, Bianchi PG, Fert D, Bonvallat F, et al. Sexuality, partner relations and contraceptive practice after termination of pregnancy. J Psychosom Obstet & Gynecol. 2001;22:83–90.
  11. Bianchi-Demicheli F, Kulier R, Perrin E, Campana A. Induced abortion and psychosexuality. J Psychosom Obstet & Gynaecol. 2000;21:213–7.
  12. Jones RK, Henshaw SK. Mifepristone for early medical abortion: Experiences in France, Great Britain and Sweden. Perspect Sexual Reprod Health. 2002;34(3):154–60.
  13. Boonstra H. Mifepristone in the United States: Status and future. The Guttmacher report on public policy. August 2002. Alan Guttmacher Institute: http://www.guttmacher.org
  14. Joffe C, Weitz TA. Normalizing the exceptional: incorporating the “abortion pill” into mainstream medicine. Social Science & Medicine 2003;56:2353–66.
  15. Grimes DA, Creinin MD. Induced abortion: An overview for internists. Ann Intern Med. 2004;140:620–6.
  16. Fielding SL, Schaff EA. Social context and the experience of a sample of U.S. Women taking RU-486 (mifepristone) for early abortion. Sage Publications. Qualitative Health Reseach. 2004;14(5):612–27.
  17. Lowenstein L, Deutsch M, Gruberg R, Solt I, Yagil Y, Nevo O, Bloch M. Psychological distress symptoms in women undergoing medical vs. surgical termination of pregnancy. Elsevier, General Hospital Psychiatry. 2006;28:43–7. http://www.sciencedirect.com
  18. Ashok PM, Hamoda H, Flett GMM, Kidd A, Fitzmaurice A, Templeton A. Psychological sequelae of medical and surgical abortion at 10–13 weeks gestation. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2005;84:761–6.
  19. Fiala C, Winikoff B, Helström L, Hellborg M, Gemzell-Danielsson K. Acceptability of home-use of Misoprostol in medical abortion. Contraception. 2004;70(5):387–92.
  20. Dennis A, Henshaw SK, Joyce TJ, Finer LB, Blanchard K. The impact of laws requiring parental involvement for abortion: A literature review. New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2009. www.guttmacher.org.
  21. Sonfield A. Delineating the obligations that come with conscientious refusal: A question of balance. Guttmacher Policy Review. 2009:12(3); http://www.guttmacher.org.
  22. E.U. Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights. Opinion No 4-2005: The Right to Conscientious Objection and the Conclusion by EU Member States of Concordats with the Holy See. CFR-CDF. Opinion 4-2005.doc. http://cridho.cpdr.ucl.ac.be/en/eu_experts_network/report_details.php?year=2005
  23. Pope C, Ziebland S, Mays N. Qualitative research in health care: Analysing qualitative data. BMJ. 2000;320:114–6.
  24. Henshaw SK, Finer LB The accessibility of abortion services in the United States, 2001. Perspect Sexual Reprod Health. 2003;35(1):16–24.
  25. Office fédéral de la statistique, OFS: http://www.interruptio.bfs.admin.ch

Most read articles by the same author(s)