Women's existential experiences within Swedish abortion care
Stålhandske, Maria L ; Ekstrand, Maria LU
and Tydén, Tanja
(2011)
In Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology
32(1).
p.35-41
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Objective. To explore Swedish women's experiences of clinical abortion care in relation to their need for existential support. Methods. Individual in-depth interviews with 24 women with previous experience of unwanted pregnancy and abortion. Participants were recruited between 2006 and 2009. Interviews were analysed by latent content analysis. Findings. Although the women had similar experiences of the abortion care offered, the needs they expressed differed. Swedish abortion care was described as rational and neutral, with physical issues dominating over existential ones. For some women, the medical procedures triggered existential experiences of life, meaning, and morality. While some women abstained from any form of existential support,... (More)
- Objective. To explore Swedish women's experiences of clinical abortion care in relation to their need for existential support. Methods. Individual in-depth interviews with 24 women with previous experience of unwanted pregnancy and abortion. Participants were recruited between 2006 and 2009. Interviews were analysed by latent content analysis. Findings. Although the women had similar experiences of the abortion care offered, the needs they expressed differed. Swedish abortion care was described as rational and neutral, with physical issues dominating over existential ones. For some women, the medical procedures triggered existential experiences of life, meaning, and morality. While some women abstained from any form of existential support, others expressed a need to reflect upon the existential aspects and/or to reconcile their decision emotionally. Conclusion. As women's needs for existential support in relation to abortion vary, women can be disappointed with the personnel's ability to respond to their thoughts and feelings related to the abortion. To ensure abortion care personnel meet the physical, psychological and existential needs of each patient, better resources and new lines of education are needed to ensure abortion personnel are equipped to deal with the existential aspects of abortion care. © 2011 Informa UK, Ltd. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/79fbe9c2-6892-4986-aede-ea4f58babaf5
- author
- Stålhandske, Maria L
; Ekstrand, Maria
LU
and Tydén, Tanja
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- Abortion, existential experience, existential support, psychological wellbeing, women's health, abortion, adult, article, clinical article, decision making, emotion, existentialism, female, human, maternal care, medical abortion, medical care, morality, patient counseling, personal experience, psychological well being, semi structured interview, surgical abortion, Sweden, unwanted pregnancy, Abortion, Induced, Adult, Emotions, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Unwanted, Questionnaires, Social Support, Women, Women's Health
- in
- Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology
- volume
- 32
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 35 - 41
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:79751510994
- ISSN
- 0167-482X
- DOI
- 10.3109/0167482X.2010.545457
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Export Date: 05 December 2025; Cited By: 15
- id
- 79fbe9c2-6892-4986-aede-ea4f58babaf5
- alternative location
- https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79751510994&doi=10.3109%2F0167482X.2010.545457&partnerID=40&md5=8cd67e4e1689e693b8e130205af48bce
- date added to LUP
- 2025-12-05 10:13:52
- date last changed
- 2025-12-06 04:01:41
@article{79fbe9c2-6892-4986-aede-ea4f58babaf5,
abstract = {{Objective. To explore Swedish women's experiences of clinical abortion care in relation to their need for existential support. Methods. Individual in-depth interviews with 24 women with previous experience of unwanted pregnancy and abortion. Participants were recruited between 2006 and 2009. Interviews were analysed by latent content analysis. Findings. Although the women had similar experiences of the abortion care offered, the needs they expressed differed. Swedish abortion care was described as rational and neutral, with physical issues dominating over existential ones. For some women, the medical procedures triggered existential experiences of life, meaning, and morality. While some women abstained from any form of existential support, others expressed a need to reflect upon the existential aspects and/or to reconcile their decision emotionally. Conclusion. As women's needs for existential support in relation to abortion vary, women can be disappointed with the personnel's ability to respond to their thoughts and feelings related to the abortion. To ensure abortion care personnel meet the physical, psychological and existential needs of each patient, better resources and new lines of education are needed to ensure abortion personnel are equipped to deal with the existential aspects of abortion care. © 2011 Informa UK, Ltd.}},
author = {{Stålhandske, Maria L and Ekstrand, Maria and Tydén, Tanja}},
issn = {{0167-482X}},
keywords = {{Abortion; existential experience; existential support; psychological wellbeing; women's health; abortion; adult; article; clinical article; decision making; emotion; existentialism; female; human; maternal care; medical abortion; medical care; morality; patient counseling; personal experience; psychological well being; semi structured interview; surgical abortion; Sweden; unwanted pregnancy; Abortion, Induced; Adult; Emotions; Female; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Unwanted; Questionnaires; Social Support; Women; Women's Health}},
language = {{swe}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{35--41}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology}},
title = {{Women's existential experiences within Swedish abortion care}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/0167482X.2010.545457}},
doi = {{10.3109/0167482X.2010.545457}},
volume = {{32}},
year = {{2011}},
}