Contraceptive and abortion practices of young Ghanaian women aged 15–24: evidence from a nationally representative survey

Table 6 Abortion and post-abortion care among 15–24 and 25–49 year-olds

	15–24	25–49
	N = 1039	N = 3100	p-value
Abortion estimates
% who successfully ended a pregnancy within last 3 years	7.0	4.8	0.03
% who successfully "brought back late menses" within last 3 years	5.6	2.6	0.00
Overall abortion incidence (abortions per 1000 women) ^a	29.5	29.9	0.76
Among respondents who had an abortion	N = 116	N = 200
Method used
Pills: mifepristone and/or misoprostol	21.8	24.3	0.71
Pills: unknown but obtained from a formal provider ^b	14.3	12.3	0.61
Pills: unknown and obtained from a non- formal provider	14.7	16.9	0.62
Surgical procedure by formal provider	17.0	16.3	0.90
N-tablet	3.2	5.5	0.37
Other ^c	42.6	43.3	0.92
% who had complications	32.4	34.5	0.70
Of those with complications, % who received treatment	59.9	57.3	0.81
In facility/with formal health provider	39.7	45.1	0.62
At traditional healer/birth attendant	3.7	2.6	0.72
At pharmacy	17.0	14.0	0.68
Other	0.0	1.3	0.41
Contraceptive use at time of pregnancy
Yes, modern method^d	25.0	25.7	0.91
Yes, traditional method^e	12.7	15.8	0.63
No	65.1	61.1	0.60

All Ns are unweighted
^aIncidence is out of all women (including those who never had sex)
^bFormal providers comprise private doctors, midwives, hospitals, clinics (including mobile and family planning clinics), pharmacies, NGOs, CHPS and maternity homes
^cExamples of other: Traditional remedy, inserted or injected something, procedure from traditional healer/birth attendant
^dModern methods: IUD, implant, injectables, EC, pill, Standard Days/beads, LAM
^eTraditional methods: rhythm, withdrawal, washing, other traditional

ISSN: 1742-4755