THE EXPERIENCES OF PREGNANT WOMEN WHO REQUEST AN ABORTION

Authors

  • Susan Humpel Chief social worker and Head of the Social Work Department, Potchefstroom Hospital Health Department, North West Province, South Africa.
  • Herman Strydom School of Psycho-Social Behavioural Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, North-West University, South Africa.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15270/46-1-184

Abstract

Pregnancy is a complex part of being a woman – it encompasses sexuality, a relationship,
confrontation with contraception, the realisation of being pregnant, decisions and consequences
(McCulloch, 1996:25). Mogano (1999:10) and Zimmerman (1997:15) agree that the discovery
of an unwanted pregnancy evokes a variety of feelings in the woman, which lead to emotional
turmoil. Feelings that are experienced range from ambivalence, surprise, happiness about
fertility, fear of foetal abnormality, fear of birth, joy over motherhood, anger, feelings of guilt,
confusion and shame, to anxiety about the social, economic, educational and emotional
consequences of the pregnancy.

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Published

2014-06-17

How to Cite

Humpel, S., & Strydom, H. (2014). THE EXPERIENCES OF PREGNANT WOMEN WHO REQUEST AN ABORTION. Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk, 46(1). https://doi.org/10.15270/46-1-184

Issue

Vol. 46 No. 1 (2010)

Section

Articles

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