title: What makes a likely abortion provider? Evidence from a nationwide survey of final-year students at Ghana's public midwifery training colleges.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Even in countries where the abortion law is technically liberal, the full application of the law has been delayed due to resistance on the part of providers to offer services. Ghana has a liberal law, allowing abortions for a wide range of indications. The current study sought to investigate factors associated with midwifery students' reported likelihood to provide abortion services.
  
  
  METHODS
  Final-year students at 15 public midwifery training colleges participated in a computer-based survey. Demographic and attitudinal variables were tested against the outcome variable, likely to provide comprehensive abortion care (CAC) services, and those variables found to have a significant association in bivariate analysis were entered into a multivariate model. Marginal effects were assessed after the final logistic regression was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 853 out of 929 eligible students enrolled in the 15 public midwifery schools took the survey, for a response rate of 91.8%. In multivariate regression analysis, the factors significantly associated with reported likeliness to provide CAC services were having had an unplanned pregnancy, currently using contraception, feeling adequately prepared, agreeing it is a good thing women can get a legal abortion and having been exposed to multiple forms of education around surgical abortion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Midwifery students at Ghana's public midwifery training colleges report that they are likely to provide CAC. Ensuring that midwives-in-training are well trained in abortion services, as well as encouraging empathy in these students, may increase the number of providers of safe abortion care in Ghana.
authors.affiliation: Global REACH, University of Michigan Medical School. Electronic address: sarahrom@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Sarah D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Rominski
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Jody
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lori
authors.affiliation: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nakua
authors.affiliation: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dzomeku
authors.affiliation: Department of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan Medical School.
authors.forename: Cheryl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Moyer
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000029:Abortion, Legal / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003267:Contraception; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008880:Midwifery / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Abortion; Africa; Family planning; Ghana