PREVALENCE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY AMONG SINGLE AND MARRIED WOMEN IN FCT

1.1 Introduction

Pregnancy termination also called abortion is the word used to describe the act of termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a foetus or embryo prior to viability. The term Abortion most commonly refers to the induced removal of human pregnancy. It could mean a plan or arrangement which takes place in the foetus before it can develop properly. Popular use of the word abortion implies a deliberate pregnancy termination and some prefer the word miscarriage to refer to spontaneous foetal loss before viability. This definition implies a legal perception of the age at which a foetus can survive out of the womb. An estimated 44 million abortions are performed globally each year, with slightly under half of those performed unsafely (Sedghet al., 2012).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

In Nigeria, as in all parts of the world, women experience unplanned pregnancy. Some of these women seek to terminate their pregnancies by safe medical methods or by other unorthodox methods available. The procurement of abortion is by no means a new phenomenon in Nigeria. The main reason why young girls and women procure abortion is always changing. Increasingly, women procure abortion due to desire to avoid premarital births and to control family size (Aboyeji, 2003). However, abortion as it is used in this study is the act of terminating or stopping the development of a child in the womb of a woman either by medical operation or self medication.

Abortion, when induced in the developed world in accordance with local laws is among the safest procedures in medicine. Notwithstanding, unsafe abortion occurs in approximately 70,000 maternal death and 5 million cases of disabilities are recorded yearly, globally (Wikipedia, 2021). Abortion is an age old practise, it was universally practised but not universally accepted. It was seen as a social evil, one that brought down the curse of the gods. The evil notion that primitive people heard about was so profound that it was believed in some tribes that abortion committed by a married woman could cause the husband to be sterile especially when the husband is not responsible (Olaitan, 2003)

The above reasons did not stop the practise of abortion among primitive people. Women in the olden days would rather have their pregnancy terminated than to have the child to be raised in slavery. Pregnancies involving members of the same family were aborted because it was seen as a taboo. Lactating women who become pregnant had the pregnancies aborted to ensure the flow of milk for the living child.

Primitive men used crude, traumatic and often ineffective means to terminate pregnancy which led to the deaths of the victims. Today, abortion continues to be practised whether forbidden or accepted for a variety of social, political, economic and religious reason that are not completely different from those given by primitive men (Boyd, 2006). Over the years, due to advanced science and technology, man has been able to tackle problems more effectively than primitive men.

Abortion is seen by many in the world today as immoral and ungodly, an act that calls for a punishment from both God and man. Many others still see abortion as a means of regulating the population and balancing the socio economic needs of the family. For this above reason, abortion has been the centre of many legal, social, political and religious debates in the countries all over the world (Jones, 2004).

Abortion is a life threatening issue, one that has claimed the lives of thousands of young women and girls all over the world, therefore, it is an issue that concerns everyone in the society no matter what your stand is on abortion. Consider a young girl of fourteen who gets pregnant and is desperate for a solution. Since she is unable to face the consequences of pregnancy at this age, she may not even know who is responsible for her pregnancy after realizing she is pregnant due to obvious signs of pregnancy (nausea, insomnia, etc).

On the other hand, this young girl may decide to procure an abortion herself or may find herself in the hands of quacks such as half-baked nurses, medical school dropouts, traditional medicine practitioners and other paramedical quacks which could lead to loss of life or sustenance of severe complications which may affect the womb.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Prevalence and Factors Associated with Termination of Pregnancy among Single and Married Women.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the Despite the fact that a large number of women die every day all over the world as a result of abortion, the practise is still increasing. It is a worrisome problem worldwide and the rate at which it is procured is alarming. Families have experienced the trauma of losing a child; marriages have been broken because some young girls have become barren before marriage, all as a result of too many abortions. When death from abortion occurs, the argument on who is responsible is endless.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Prevalence and Factors Associated with Termination of Pregnancy among Single and Married Women in FCT. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To investigate the prevalence associated with abortion and unsafe abortion among Single and Married Women;
2. To describe the factors influencing induced termination of pregnancy among Single and Married Women;
3. To determine the possible effects of abortion among Single and Married Women; and
4. To examine the socio-demographic factors associated with the occurrence of pregnancy termination among Single and Married Women in the area under study.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Are the factors influencing induced termination of pregnancy among Single and Married Women?
• What is the prevalence associated with abortion and unsafe abortion among Single and Married Women?
• What are the possible effects of abortion among Single and Married Women?
• What are the socio-demographic factors associated with the occurrence of pregnancy termination among Single and Married Women in the area under study?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There are no socio-demographic factors associated with the occurrence of pregnancy termination among Single and Married Women in the area under study
• H1: There are socio-demographic factors associated with the occurrence of pregnancy termination among Single and Married Women in the area under study

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There are no significant factors influencing induced termination of pregnancy among Single and Married Women
• H1: There are significant factors influencing induced termination of pregnancy among Single and Married Women

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1.7 Significance of Study

The findings of this study may help create public awareness on the dangers of abortion and help in educating young girls on the “do's and don'ts” of abortion related issues. This study is geared towards making necessary recommendations on alternative solutions to abortion.

The findings of the study may go a long way in discouraging young girls from procuring abortion and helping the government in solving the problem. This study would also form a basis for further research work in abortion and related problems in Nigeria.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Prevalence and Factors Associated with Termination of Pregnancy among Single and Married Women in FCT.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Abortion: Termination of the pregnancy of a woman before it reaches full term.

Sexual Activities: Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone to acts with another person in varying patterns of frequency, for a wide variety of reasons.