Nigerian Health Professionals' Perceptions about Abortion Practice

Although the provision of abortion is highly restricted in Nigeria, findings from a 1996 survey of 67 health professionals from two-thirds of the country's states indicate that women of all socio-economic levels obtain induced abortions, albeit under a wide range of conditions. Nationally, about one-third of women seeking an abortion are thought to obtain it from a physician, and almost one-quarter are believed to go to a nurse or midwife; nearly half are thought to either use traditional providers who have no formal medical training, take drugs they purchase over the counter or employ other means to induce the abortion themselves. Because such a high proportion of abortions are likely performed by unskilled providers or are self-induced, about two-fifths of all women who have an abortion are believed to surfer a medical complication, and nearly one-fifth are expected to be hospitalized for treatment of health consequences. Urban women and those who are relatively well-off are more likely than their rural and poor counterparts to have access to safe abortion services and hospital treatment for medical complications.