title: Women's experiences of having an early medical abortion at home.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess women's experiences of having an early medical abortion at home and to investigate their perceptions of the information provided before the abortion. The study also aimed to investigate possible differences between groups of women.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study is cross-sectional with a descriptive and comparative design. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 119 women who had undergone a medical abortion at home.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost half of the women (43%, n = 51) experienced the bleeding as more than expected and one-fourth (26%, n = 31) bled for more than four weeks. One-third (34%, n = 41) stated a lack of information, especially about the bleeding and pain. The experience of pain differed between groups. Women who had undergone an earlier abortion and women who had previously given birth experienced the abortion as being less painful than that experienced by first-time gravidae (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The finding that women experience information about the pain and bleeding to be insufficient suggests that information in those areas can be improved. The result that women without previous experience of abortion or childbirth stated the pain as being worse than other groups investigated suggests that special attention should be paid to those women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden. Electronic address: maria7petersson@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hedqvist
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brolin
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden; Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tydén
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Larsson
mesh_terms: D000021:Abortifacient Agents, Steroidal; D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000009:adverse effects; D022126:Access to Information; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D020073:Gravidity; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015735:Mifepristone; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000021:Abortifacient Agents, Steroidal; D015735:Mifepristone
keywords: Bleeding; Home abortion; Information; Medical abortion; Pain; Women's experiences