Medical termination of pregnancy: people's expectations and experiences in the Netherlands

Annually, approximately 31,000 people experience a termination of pregnancy (TOP) in the Netherlands. In 2021, about one-third of them chose medical termination of pregnancy (MTOP). We explored experiences with MTOP and to what extent expectations, pain, and counselling in the clinic are associated with satisfaction with MTOP.

A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire. We included 138 respondents, ≥16 years, who chose MTOP (September 2020-March 2022).

The majority of respondents experienced MTOP more positively than expected or as expected (67%). For 24%, the experience was more negative than expected. In the event of another TOP, half of these respondents would hesitate to choose or would not choose MTOP, mainly due to physical side effects. The majority of respondents (73%) would choose MTOP again. Their main motivation was self-determination during treatment. Respondents cited four key elements: pain, intensity of experience during and after treatment, blood loss, and duration. Correspondence between MTOP expectations and experiences was associated with satisfaction with MTOP, while pain and satisfaction with counselling were not.

The majority of respondents were satisfied with MTOP and would choose the treatment again. Non-correspondence between expectations and experiences negatively affected satisfaction with MTOP. This highlights the importance of managing expectations by providing accessible information about the variety in expectations and experiences to patients with a focus on key elements of the experience.