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Public hospital pregnancy termination services: are we meeting demand?
Objectives:
To identify the socio-demographic characteristics of women seeking termination of pregnancy through a public hospital service and explore issues of accessibility to the service.
Method:
An audit of the Pregnancy Advisory Service (PAS) at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne from January to March 1996. Data were collected from 1,088 intake forms of women seeking an abortion.
Results:
The women were of low socio-economic status, with 437 (40.2%) living on a government pension or benefit and 55.6% holding a Health Benefits Card. However, only 33.8% were given an appointment for an abortion in the public clinic, with most (63.7%) referred to private services.
Conclusions:
The demand for this public hospital abortion service exceeds its capacity and economically disadvantaged women are required to seek abortion in private services.
Implications:
There is a role for regional health authorities to ensure adequate distribution of public hospital pregnancy termination services.