Gunilla Aneblom

Reasons for pregnancy termination, contraceptive habits and contraceptive failure among Swedish women requesting an early pregnancy termination

Background. More than 30 000 legal abortions are performed every year in Sweden despite sexual education in schools, widespread youth‐clinics and family planning services that are free of charge. The aim of this study was to investigate reasons for induced abortion, contraceptive habits and reasons for contraceptive failure among women presenting for induced abortion.

Knowledge, use and attitudes towards emergency contraceptive pills among Swedish women presenting for induced abortion

Objective To investigate the knowledge, experiences and attitudes towards emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) among women presenting for induced abortion.

Bringing emergency contraception over the counter: experiences of nonprescription users in France, Norway, Sweden and Portugal.

Emergency contraceptive pills are now available on a nonprescription basis in over 25 countries worldwide. In an effort to learn about womens experiences with this new means of emergency contraception (EC) service delivery, we conducted focus-group discussions with nonprescription EC users from France, Norway, Portugal and Sweden. Participants from these countries overwhelming supported pharmacy access to EC, explaining that pharmacy delivery facilitated rapid access to the method. Despite expressing mixed reviews of the counseling given by the providing pharmacists, participants reported that they knew how use the method safely and properly. Most indicated that the package insert was easy to understand and adequately answered the majority of their questions. Participants described the EC experience as a motivating factor that, in many cases, has led to more consistent use of regular contraceptive methods. These data are valuable to policy-makers and institutions interested in learning more about the safety and acceptability of nonprescription access to emergency contraceptive pills.

Women’s voices about emergency contraceptive pills “over-the-counter”: a Swedish perspective

This study aimed to describe womens experiences with the emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) as a prescription-free over-the-counter (OTC) product. Women (median age 24) who had bought ECP as an OTC product were interviewed in focus groups. Data were analyzed by content analysis. All participants appreciated the OTC availability. Timesaving aspects were seen as important benefits and pharmacies were seen as the right place to sell ECP. The media was the main source of information about OTC, probably due to the debates of the introduction of ECP as an OTC product in Sweden. All women discussed the mechanism of action. The womens experiences of interacting with the pharmacists were both positive and negative. Inconsistencies in routines with regard to providing ECP and different attitudes toward use of ECP among the pharmacists, were identified. The women expected up-to-date information about ECP and the OTC availability from gynecologists and other health professionals.

Perceptions of contraception, non-protection and induced abortion among a sample of urban Swedish teenage girls: Focus group discussions

Objectives To explore the attitudes of teenage girls towards contraception and induced abortion in order to better understand underlying reasons for non-protection. Methods Four focus group discussions with urban teenage girls aged 15–18 years (n = 16). Results Attitudes towards abortion were generally positive despite some degree of misinformation and lack of knowledge about the subject. Knowledge about methods of birth control was accurate. The use of alcohol was often cited as a factor contributing to risk-taking behaviour. Sexual abuse was mentioned as a common phenomenon, and all participants knew someone who had been sexually abused. Participants agreed that sexual partners were reluctant to use condoms and that it was difficult to negotiate with them about this use. The increased rate of abortion was felt to be mainly due to initiation of sexual activity at a younger age. A need for easily available and inexpensive contraception was expressed along with improvement in the quality of sexual education in school. Conclusion Qualitative sexual education with single-sex sessions and gender related messages as a recurrent activity in the school curricula may help to empower young women and promote avoidance of risk-taking during sexual activity thus helping to reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancies. In addition, access to cheap condoms could provide a stimulus to increased use of condoms.

Limited impact of an intervention regarding emergency contraceptive pills in Sweden--repeated surveys among abortion applicants.

Objective To evaluate a community-based intervention consisting of an information campaign and advance provision of emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) to abortion applicants. Methods Submission of repeated waiting room questionnaires to abortion applicants in two cities in mid-Sweden; one intervention city (IC) and one comparison city (CC) in 2002 (IC = 92, CC = 95) and 2003 (IC = 244, CC = 204). Results The overall response rate was 90%. The percentage of women who had undergone an abortion within the previous year had decreased in the intervention group but not in the comparison group. Almost two-thirds (63%) of the targeted women had noticed the information campaign and one out of three (33%) who had visited a family planning clinic recalled being given information about ECP. There was a small decline in the use of combined oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices over time. After the intervention, women in the intervention city had better knowledge of ECP and had used it more than women in the comparison city did. Conclusions More than half of the targeted women had noticed the information campaign and it may have had a limited impact. Further investigations are needed to determine whether advance supply of ECP to abortion applicants can reduce repeat abortions.

The adoption of emergency contraceptive pills in Sweden : a repeated cross-sectional study among abortion applicants

The adoption of emergency contraceptive pills in Sweden : a repeated cross-sectional study among abortion applicants