Women's experiences of the final stage of early medical abortion at home: results of a pilot survey.
METHODS
Research has shown that many women choosing an early medical abortion would prefer to be at home rather than in hospital to expel the pregnancy. A service was commenced at a hospital abortion service in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK that allowed women at up to 56 days' gestation to be discharged home soon after misoprostol administration. During a 3-month period, an anonymous questionnaire of women's experiences was conducted 1-2 weeks after the procedure.


RESULTS
During the 3 months of the survey a total of 145 women chose to go home to abort. A total of 100 women completed questionnaires out of 145 (69%) distributed. The commonest reasons given for choosing to go home were: to get home sooner (53%) and to be in the privacy of one's own home (47%). Most (81%) of the women stated that bleeding was either "as expected" (55%) or "not as bad as expected" (26%), and 58% of the women stated that the pain was "as expected" (40%) or "not as bad as expected" (18%). The majority (84%) of the women said that they would recommend this method to a friend.


CONCLUSIONS
Discharge home for the final stage of a medical abortion was highly acceptable to women. Since availability is not limited by hospital bed space, more women can be treated by medical methods.
NHS Lothian Family Planning/Well Women's Services, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, UK. sharon.cameron@ed.ac.uk
Sharon
S
Cameron
Anna
A
Glasier
Helen
H
Dewart
Anne
A
Johnstone
D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D016595:Misoprostol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011247:Pregnancy; D012606:Scotland; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal; D016595:Misoprostol