Rape-related pregnancy in Brazil: the experience of women seeking legal abortion

No Brasil, a realização de interrupção legal de gestação consequente à violência sexual é permitida por lei. O objetivo deste estudo foi relatar vivências de mulheres após a violência sexual, no diagnóstico de gravidez, na busca pelo serviço de interrupção legal da gestação e durante a internação em um hospital universitário. Foi realizada pesquisa qualitativa com entrevistas semiestruturadas em dez mulheres de 18-38 anos e escolaridade ≥ 8 anos, após 1-5 anos da interrupção legal da gestação. As mulheres desconheciam o direito à interrupção legal da gestação, sentiram a violência sexual como experiência vergonhosa, mantiveram segredo e não procuraram qualquer atendimento imediato. O diagnóstico de gravidez provocou sentimentos de angústia e desejo de abortar. Para as mulheres que procuraram o setor de saúde suplementar as orientações foram precárias ou não aconteceram. O atendimento dos profissionais mostrou-se relevante para assimilação da experiência do aborto. É necessário divulgar o direito à interrupção legal da gestação e a existência de serviços que a realizam, e capacitar profissionais de saúde e segurança pública para atender esses casos312345353FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2009/18226-0In Brazil, abortion is permitted by law in cases of rape-related pregnancy. This study reports on various aspects in the experience of women that have been sexually assaulted: diagnosis of the pregnancy, seeking legal abortion, and hospitalization in a university hospital. This was a qualitative study that interviewed ten women 18 to 38 years of age, with at least eight years of schooling, one to five years after legal abortion. The women had been previously unaware of their right to a legal abortion, were ashamed about the sexual assault, kept it secret, and had not sought immediate care. The diagnosis of pregnancy provoked anxiety and the wish to undergo an abortion. Women treated through private health plans received either insufficient orientation or none at all. Respectful treatment by the healthcare staff proved relevant for the women to cope with the abortion. The study highlights the need to publicize the right to abortion in cases of rape-related pregnancy and the healthcare services that perform legal abortion, in addition to training healthcare and law enforcement teams to handle such case

Computer-assisted Telephone Interviewing (cati): Using The Telephone For Obtaining Information On Reproductive Health.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) as a method for obtaining information on reproductive health in Brazil. A total of 998 eligible women for the study were selected to answer a questionnaire through computer- assisted telephone interviewing undertaken by trained interviewers. The outcomes of each telephone contact attempt were described. Differences between groups were assessed using the χ(2) test. Phone contact was made in 60.3% of the attempts and 57.5% of the interviews were completed. The success rate improved with the decrease in time from hospitalization to interview and with the higher numbers of telephones available. A total of 2,170 calls were made, comprising of one to sixteen attempts per woman. The majority of situations where extra calls were necessary were due to the number being busy or to the fact that the woman was not available at the time of the call. CATI can prove be a valuable procedure for obtaining information on reproductive health among Brazilian women, particularly for relatively recent events and when more than one alternative telephone number is available.271801-

It's much worse than dying': the experiences of female victims of sexual violence

To describe the experiences of women who have suffered sexual violence and the impact and importance of that violence on their lives. Sexual violence against women is a serious problem worldwide. Studies need to investigate how women reorganise their lives after experiencing sexual violence. A qualitative design was used to explore women's experiences. This study analysed semistructured interviews of 11 women who had experienced a sexual assault. The interviews were performed at a specialised walk-in clinic at a university hospital in the interior of SAo Paulo State, Brazil. A thematic analysis of the content led to the identification of the following themes: (1) impact and meaning of the violence; (2) feelings; (3) overcoming the violence and (4) expectations for the future. Sexual violence had a devastating impact on the lives of these women. The women's postviolence experiences caused feelings of guilt, impotence, fragility and immobility. These experiences also instilled a belief that they may have provoked' the violence. Nevertheless, the women showed resilience, investing all of their energy in returning their lives to pre-violence conditions. Family, friends and other important people, as well as the care that the women received from health services, were cited as factors that sustained this attitude of resilience. Providing appropriate care to female victims of sexual assault requires not only treating the physical damage caused by the violence but also evaluating the particularities of the experience's emotional impact on each woman and the psychosocial repercussions of the experience. To clinical practiceHealth professionals should follow up with women during their recovery period2615-1623532361FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2012/18922-

The use of educational strategies for promotion of knowledge, attitudes and contraceptive practices among teenagers : a randomized clinical trial

To evaluate two educational interventions and identify differences between them in what concerns the promotion of knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to the pill and male condom. A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted with teenagers, in which two different educational interventions were used, one based on the methodology of problematization (PG) and another on the pedagogy of transmission (TG). Knowledge, attitudes and practices were verified through a questionnaire applied before, one month and three months after the intervention. The two educational interventions promoted positive changes in the answers to questions on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of adolescents, from both groups. In what concerns knowledge, performance when answering the questionnaire was better after the intervention for both. However, only the PG showed improvements in performance over time. The TG showed a higher chance of displaying certain positive attitudes and more chances of correct answers about some practices. The two educational interventions, despite having used different methodologies, have generally been proved to be effective for teaching about the pill and condom use, with positive impacts on knowledge, attitudes and practices, but with the methodology of problematization, the maintenance of knowledge in the time period studied was obtained72182

Postpartum women’s perspectives on the donation of placentas for scientific research in Campinas, Brazil

Little is known about public perspectives of scientific and therapeutic uses of placentas. Gaps in knowledge potentiate ethical and clinical problems regarding collection and applications. As such, this study sought to assess the perspectives of placenta donation of a sample of women. Postpartum women's perspectives on placental donation were assessed at the State University of Campinas in the Centro de Atencao Integral a Saude da Mulher (CAISM) maternity hospital using a cross-sectional survey (n = 384) and semi-structured interviews (n = 12). Surveys were analyzed quantitatively and interviews were analyzed qualitatively using grounded coding; results were compared. The average age of respondents was 27. Fifty-six percent had more than one child, 45% were Caucasian, 38% were mixed-race, 74% identified with a Christian faith, 52% had high school education or higher, 13% regarded the placenta as spiritually important, 72% felt that knowing what happens to the placenta after birth was somewhat or very important, 78% supported the use of the placenta in research and medicine, 59% reported that consent to collect the placenta was very or somewhat important, 78% preferred their doctor to invite donation, and only 7% preferred the researcher to invite donation. Interviews suggested women appreciate being part of research and that receiving information about studies was important to them. Informed by these results, we argue that women support scientific and therapeutic uses of placentas, want to be included in decision making, and desire information about the placenta. Placentas should not be viewed as throwaway organs that are poised for collection without the involvement and permission of women. Women want to be meaningfully included in research processes1017687COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPsem informaçã

Computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI): using the telephone for obtaining information on reproductive health

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) as a method for obtaining information on reproductive health in Brazil. A total of 998 eligible women for the study were selected to answer a questionnaire through computer- assisted telephone interviewing undertaken by trained interviewers. The outcomes of each telephone contact attempt were described. Differences between groups were assessed using the χ2 test. Phone contact was made in 60.3% of the attempts and 57.5% of the interviews were completed. The success rate improved with the decrease in time from hospitalization to interview and with the higher numbers of telephones available. A total of 2,170 calls were made, comprising of one to sixteen attempts per woman. The majority of situations where extra calls were necessary were due to the number being busy or to the fact that the woman was not available at the time of the call. CATI can prove be a valuable procedure for obtaining information on reproductive health among Brazilian women, particularly for relatively recent events and when more than one alternative telephone number is available

Opinions and main sources of information about menopause among middle-aged brazilian women

The aim of this study was to evaluate women's opinions about menopause and the sources of information they use to deepen their understanding of the topic. Population-based study with 749 Brazilian women aged 45 to 60 years. The answers to the question "What is menopause?" were typed and coded, and categories that emerged from the interviewees' own speech were created. The answers to the question: "Where or from whom did you get information about menopause?" were also analyzed. The mean age of women was 52.5 (+/- 4.4) years. Of them, 68% were postmenopausal. According to 67.5% of the interviewees, the concept of menopause encompassed changes in the menstrual cycle and hormones. For 48%, menopause meant physical changes such as "hot flushes and vaginal dryness." For 22.7%, menopause represented psychological changes. The concept of menopause was associated with some change in sexuality for 7.6% of the interviewees. Approximately 18% could not explain what menopause meant. Regarding the sources of information, 44.5% of the women attributed this knowledge to friends and relatives. Doctors or health services were mentioned by 44.3% of women. Television or radio was cited by 22.0%; magazines, newspapers, or books were cited by 14.0%; and the Internet was cited by 6.8% of women. Fifty-two women (6.9%) reported having no source of information about menopause. Most of the interviewees relate the term "menopause" to physiological events. There seems to be a suppressed demand for information on the various aspects of the menopausal transition among middle-aged Brazilian women261011541159FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2011/14526-

Perspectives of healthcare workers on the morality of abortion: a multicenter study in seven Brazilian public hospitals

We used the questionnaire ?Mosaic of Opinions on Induced Abortion? to conduct a multi-centered study to evaluate the perspectives of physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists and pharmacists on the morality of abortion. In all, 254 participants constituted the sample. The inadequate knowledge on Brazilian abortion laws was the only determinant negatively associated with the construct ?Sexual and Reproductive Rights?, corroborating the hypothesis that a better understanding of abortion legislation could mitigate the opposition of some professionals to the ethical perspective that access to safe abortion should be seen as a sexual and reproductive rightsem informaçã