Reducing delays in seeking abortion among women who visit health facilities for safe abortion service in Mekelle City, Ethiopia: Pre-post interventional study

Objectives T his study assessed the effect of health education on reducing the delay in seeking abortion in Mekelle health facilities, Tigray region, Ethiopia. Design A pre-post interventional study design with sample size of 322 women. Setting The study was conducted in 12 health facilities at Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia between February 1 st through September 30 th , 2020 Participants All women who have attended safe abortion services in Mekelle health facilities during the time of the data collection period were the study population. Intervention Women education on the Ethiopian abortion law, availability of abortion services, and optimal time of pregnancy termination using 1000 leaflets, 20 street posters for 3 months. Results Compared to the pre-intervention group, a much change in reducing the gestational age in weeks was observed in the post intervention period to terminate the pregnancy with 9.8 decrease per 100 respondents (95% CI 9.25 to 10.36) and a Cohen’s d value of 5.23 was found. Besides, there was statistically significant difference between the pre and post-intervention on the respondent knowledge on the possibility of termination pregnancy based on wish according to Ethiopian abortion law at a p-value of < 0.024. Conclusions Women’s health education on the availability of safe service and optimal gestational age for termination has led to a significant reduction of the delay in weeks with large effect size. Moreover, it brings a statistically significant difference on respondent knowledge of Ethiopian abortion law. We recommend further randomized contrail study involving three face delays of safe abortion service.