Socio-economic background individual cost and hospital care expenditure in cases of illegal and legal abortion in Maputo.

A study carried out in Mozambique sought to develop a socioeconomic profile of women being treated for illegal abortion undergoing legal abortion and receiving prenatal care and to determine the hospital and individual costs associated with each type of abortion experience. Data were collected from 103 women undergoing legal abortion (abortion is legally available on demand for up to 12 weeks of pregnancy) in Maputo Central Hospital 103 women seeking outpatient care for "miscarriage" who admitted undergoing an illegal abortion and 100 women receiving prenatal care. Statistical analysis of the data indicated that the women who resorted to illegal abortion were younger than those seeking legal abortion or receiving prenatal care and more likely to be living without a husband. Only 38 of the women with illegal abortion completed secondary school as compared to 70 of the women undergoing legal abortion and 96 of the prenatal care clients. The household income of the women seeking illegal abortion was also lower than that of the other groups (less than half that of the women undergoing legal abortion). Most of the study population was Roman Catholic including 36 women who underwent illegal abortion 59 who had legal abortions and 20 who had prenatal care. The fact that average direct cost to patients for illegal abortion (14 contos) was much less than for legal abortions (46 contos) is partly due to the 46 cases of self-induced illegal abortion. The public costs of hospital care was also higher among the illegal group. These findings imply that the availability of legal abortion should be communicated widely and that the cost of legal abortion should not create a barrier for poor women.