Funding Agency:
Population Council, New York.

Month & Year of Commencement: March 1999.

Background
Over the past few years, increasing attention has been paid to men’s involvement in reproductive health, their role in family planning, ante–natal care and emergency obstetric care. Abortion, is one area where the role of partner has not yet been adequately assessed. Men, particularly husbands, may play an important role in their partners’ abortion.

As medical abortion becomes more widely available, it is increasingly important to learn what men know and think about abortion, as well as to understand their involvement in the process or procedure. While there is a growing literature about women’s preferences for medical or surgical abortion it remains unclear how men figure in this selection process and what concerns if any, they may have about medical abortion.

An exploratory study has been undertaken in KEM Hospital, Pune to redress the dearth of information regarding men’s involvement in abortion and to explore the implications of increased access to medical abortion for that involvement.

Objectives

• To assess men’s knowledge about abortion.
• To investigate the decision making and selection process of the method of abortion.
• To assess the extent of men’s involvement in monitoring their wives for complications and post–abortion care.
• To assess the women’s view regarding their husband’s involvement in their abortion.
• Use of Misoprostol for the Active Management of the Third Stage of Labor.