The qualitative article choose is “Abortion and mental health: quantitative synthesis and analysis of research published 1995-2009” written by Priscilla (2011) (Coleman, 2011). The aim of this study was to measure the association between abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth with the intervening variables being whether the pregnancy was intended or was not intended with the association to the adverse effects of mental health (Coleman, 2011). The subgroup effects in the qualitative article were arrived at based on the comparison groups which included where there was abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth in an intended pregnancy or in an unintended pregnancy against the mental health of the sample. Additionally, a secondary objective was to calculate the population attributes risk for each outcome (Coleman, 2011). Below is the figure that represents how three independent variables influence a single dependent variable mediated by two intervening variables. In this case, the independent variables are miscarriage, stillbirth, and abortion. The intervening variables are intended pregnancy or unintended pregnancy and the dependent variable is the mental health outcome.
After the legalization of abortion in the year, 1973 many groups including religious groups, human rights activities, and conservative politician have advocated for the ban of the procedure. The pro-life and anti-choice activities have advocated for the ban of the procedure basing on the assumption that the procedure has many effects including detrimental effects to the mental and emotional health of the person who has undergone the procedure which will result to the post-abortion syndrome (Daugirdaitė, 2015). In a report prepared by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop reported that there is no evidence that supports the theory that elective abortion affects the mental state of a woman. In the USA abortion is a common event with 2% of the women undergoing abortion each year and approximately 48% of women have already undergone an elective abortion. Some studies, however, have shown that poor mental health outcome may occur after an abortion which will include suicide attempts after an elective abortion which will be related to the abortion-seeking behavior (Daugirdaitė, 2015).
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This quantitative research shows that 81% of women who have undergone an abortion have an increased risk of mental health problems and that 10% of the mental health problems have been attributed to abortion. The subgroup that showed increased mental health issues of abortion when a comparison was the draw was the women who had carried their pregnancies to term. The outcomes pointed more to substance use among women who had an elective abortion and suicidal behavior was also observed. However, the research also noted that there is a difference in the health outcomes after an abortion between the group whose pregnancy was intended and the group whose pregnancy was unwanted.
On the other hand, this qualitative research looked at how a stillbirth of both a wanted and unwanted pregnancy will affect the mental health outcome of a woman (Heazell, 2016). In the case of a stillbirth, the social function of a person will be affected which will include the social and organizational function of a larger social system. Personality disorders, mental illnesses, inadequate role performance which will include developmental changes and cries including communication and relationships difficulties (Heazell, 2016). These effects to the mental outcomes of the woman were present in both wanted and unwanted pregnancies after a stillbirth therefore interpretive that there are no differences in the mental outcomes of the woman after a stillbirth regardless of the situation surrounding the pregnancy (Heazell, 2016).
Among women who miscarried their reactions and mental health outcomes were varied. The risk factors that contributed to negative mental outcomes after a miscarriage include the history of psychiatric illness, childlessness, lack of social support and previous pregnancy loss are likely to increase the negative mental health outcomes (Van, 2011). A study done in Finland identified that there are high suicide rates among women who have had a miscarriage (Tavoli, 2018). However, there is a difference between a miscarriage of a wanted pregnancy and an unwanted pregnancy when it comes to the mental health outcomes. It was noted from this research that major mental health outcomes will be present in wanted pregnancy as compared to unwanted pregnancy (Van, 2011).
References
Coleman, P. K. (2011). Abortion and mental health: quantitative synthesis and analysis of research published 1995–2009. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 199(3), 180-186.
Heazell, A. E., Siassakos, D., Blencowe, H., Burden, C., Bhutta, Z. A., Cacciatore, J., ... & Mensah, O. K. (2016). Stillbirths: economic and psychosocial consequences. The Lancet, 387(10018), 604-616.
Daugirdaitė, V., van den Akker, O., & Purewal, S. (2015). Posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic stress disorder after termination of pregnancy and reproductive loss: a systematic review. Journal of pregnancy, 2015.
Van den Akker, O. B. (2011). The psychological and social consequences of miscarriage. Expert Review of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 6(3), 295-304.
Tavoli, Z., Mohammadi, M., Tavoli, A., Moini, A., Effatpanah, M., Khedmat, L., & Montazeri, A. (2018). Quality of life and psychological distress in women with recurrent miscarriage: a comparative study. Health and quality of life outcomes, 16(1), 150.
