Book Description
Objectives: This book examined the decision making process and health seeking patterns of low-income young women with unplanned pregnancies who opted for abortion, putting baby up for adoption, or keeping the baby. Methods: Research methodology in this book focused on formative research utilising qualitative data. The study was conducted covering all five shelters and low-income communities in Bangkok, Thailand. The data collection was through Focus Group Discussions, and in-depth interview. Forty-five cases were purposively recruited into the study. The data were analysed using content analysis. Results: From the qualitative research, the results indicated that the majority of the young women tended to select abortion as their first choice, while a few cases continued their pregnancies to term without any attempt to terminate the pregnancy. These women tended to delay seeking assistance once they found out their pregnancy situation. Majority of the low-income young women were more likely to resort self-medication as their first alternative, which was sometimes hazardous to their health. Decision on self-medication or abortions with unskilled personnel sometimes resulted in serious and life-threatening complications. Many pregnancy-termination situations resulted from self-medication.