A qualitative study of women's decision to view or not view an ultrasound image before early medication abortion

Transvaginal ultrasounds are commonly performed for gestational dating of pregnancy before a medication abortion. This paper presents findings regarding women's perspectives on viewing the gestational dating ultrasound image, which arose from a study exploring women's medication abortion experience. By providing women the opportunity to talk about their medication abortion experience through open-ended interviews, women reported their experience of viewing or not viewing the ultrasound in detail, which to date has been underexplored.

A constructivist, grounded theory approach was used. The purposive sample consisted of 18 women in the United States who experienced a medication abortion in the preceding 4 months.

Not all women wanted to view the ultrasound; however, they all wanted a choice. Women wanted to view the image to confirm health and fertility, satisfy curiosity, and process their decision regarding the pregnancy. None of the women stated that they wanted to view the image as a prerequisite to making their decision to terminate the pregnancy; rather, viewing was a way to process their decision.

Women wanted a choice of whether to view the ultrasound image because they felt it was their right to decide whether to access this aspect of their personal health information. They wanted providers to engage in a dialogue about viewing the image or not and to respect their decision. Providers need to be appropriately prepared to offer women the choice to view and to support women in their decision.