Couples counseling at an abortion clinic: a pilot study

Abstract Background Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States (US) are unintended. Nonuse, incorrect or inconsistent use of contraception may be related to limited support of male partners. Partners often accompany women seeking abortions to the clinic, representing an opportunity for heal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contraception (Stoneham) 2008-11, Vol.78 (5), p.424-431
Main Authors: Becker, Stan, Bazant, Eva S, Meyers, Carole
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Abortion, Induced
Baltimore
Biological and medical sciences
Birth control
Contraception Behavior
Contraceptive counseling
Counseling - utilization
Couples
Family Characteristics
Family Planning Services - organization & administration
Female
Genital system. Reproduction
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humans
Induced abortion. Therapeutic abortion
Male
Male involvement
Medical sciences
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Pilot Projects
Pregnancy - psychology
Sexual Partners
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Abstract Background Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States (US) are unintended. Nonuse, incorrect or inconsistent use of contraception may be related to limited support of male partners. Partners often accompany women seeking abortions to the clinic, representing an opportunity for health providers to engage them. This pilot study estimates the proportion of abortion patients accompanied by a male partner, the proportion agreeing to couples counseling and describes couples' experiences with the counseling. Study Design At a Baltimore clinic providing abortion, after preliminary qualitative research we recorded the number of patients who came with partners and accepted couples counseling in a 3-month period and sought feedback on the couples counseling in questionnaires from women, partners and the counselor. The counseling session consisted of giving information about the procedure and counseling regarding choices of a post-abortion contraceptive method and related topics that the woman and/or partner might raise. Results Overall, 27% of 774 patients came with their male partner, 28% with someone else and 45% alone. Fewer African-Americans (23%) came with a male partner, compared to 35% each among Whites and Hispanics (p
ISSN:0010-7824
1879-0518
DOI:10.1016/j.contraception.2008.06.011