Knowledge, attitude and practice of private medical practitioners towards abortion and post abortion care in Enugu, South-eastern Nigeria

Summary The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of private medical practitioners in Enugu, South-eastern Nigeria, on abortion and post-abortion care. It was a cross-sectional study of private medical practitioners in the study area using self-administered structured questionnaires. The results showed that 32.3% of the doctors terminate unwanted pregnancies when requested to do so. The majority of them (51.6%) use D&C in combination with manual vacuum aspiration for the termination of pregnancies in the first trimester. A total of 61 (63.5%) respondents offered various types of post-abortal care (PAC) services, while 42 (43.8%) of them screened women with abortion complications for sexually transmitted infections. For the doctors who do not terminate unwanted pregnancies, their main reasons were religious and moral considerations rather than obedience to the Nigerian abortion laws. We conclude that the majority of private medical practitioners in Enugu, South-eastern Nigeria, do not terminate unwanted pregnancies because of their religious beliefs.