A WOMEN’S Health Grampians and University of Melbourne study has found service gaps in the Wimmera, Grampians and Pyrenees regions for women with unintended pregnancies.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The study explored doctors’ views on services available and referral practices when women presented with an unintended pregnancy.
Survey invitations were sent to 84 general practitioners, practice managers and practice nurses working across 33 clinics in the three regions.
Twenty-three GPs completed the survey and five GPs and three practice nurses completed a phone interview.
Associate Professor Louise Keogh said the study found less than a third of the region’s general practitioners would ‘sometimes or always’ discuss medical abortion with women presenting with an unintended pregnancy.
“There are some good reasons why they might not discuss this option, for example, if it is too late in the pregnancy for it to be an option. But our concern is that the low rate could be due to poor knowledge or no access, which was born out in some of the interviews,” she said.
“Rural women should have access to all the options that are suitable for them, so further education, and increasing access to the option of medical abortion would be beneficial.
“Three quarters of the GPs in the survey said they never discuss tele-abortion with women, so there is scope to improve awareness of this option as well.”
Tele-abortion is a medical abortion via teleconsultation.
Women’s Health Grampians chief executive Marianne Hendron said the study’s findings showed there was much work needed around improving information about referral pathways.
“I think there needs to be a focus on generally available information, as well as information specifically directed at GP clinics,” she said.
Ms Hendron said she was surprised by the high levels of conscientious objection, and inconsistencies in knowledge of termination services and options, particularly in regards to medical termination.
“This is particularly worrying because medical termination has been a legal and safe option in Australia since 2012,” she said.
“It is very time-dependent, so women need to know about and access the option early.
“It should be more available to rural women.”
Ms Hendron said Women’s Health Grampians would work with Western Victoria Primary Health Network to improve referral pathway information and develop training so more general practitioners could provide medical termination.
