Table 2 Characteristics of severe acute obstetric complications due to induced abortion

Reasons women wanted to terminate their pregnancies

• Existing illness

1. "I had jaundice and chest pain for many months before I became pregnant. I was very sick, and the doctor said that keeping the baby would be bad for my health."

2. "I have had many illnesses, and I do not have the strength to bear another child."

• Lack of money

1. "We often do not have enough food or money in the home, and I do not know how we would pay for another child."

2. "My husband is not able to feed me or my daughters. How will we keep another child?"

• Enough children or young child

1. "We already have 2 children, and I want to raise my youngest son properly."

2. "I already have a little girl, and I want to raise her well."

3. "I already have 3 girls, and I feared having another girl."

Reasons women used a particular method of pregnancy termination

• Other women told her to use this method

1. "My sister told me to use tablets for pregnancy termination."

2. "Some women who live near me had told me before that they went to a nearby bazaar to have an MR. Everyone goes, so I decided to go there to end my pregnancy."

• Other methods were too expensive

1. "After much thought, I decided to use tree roots to end my pregnancy. I did not have enough money to buy pills to end the pregnancy."

2. "I did not seek a doctor's advice for ending my pregnancy because the treatment was too expensive. Instead, I went to a kobiraj, who gave me an amulet and herbal medicines."

• Other methods proved ineffective

1. "Even though I used homeopathic medicines and herbal medicines to end my pregnancy, I knew the pregnancy did not end since I did not lose any blood. I then went to the community clinic to have an MR."

2. "I had to go to the hospital because I had very heavy bleeding the day after I inserted tree roots to end my pregnancy. The doctor said I was still pregnant, and that I would stay sick until I ended the pregnancy. I had an MR that day."

Reasons family members were angry about pregnancy termination

•Woman had used an unsafe method

1. "My aunts had agreed that I should terminate my pregnancy. But they got mad that I had used tree roots and yelled at me."

2. "My parents had told me to end the pregnancy, but they yelled at me because I had used homeopathic medicines."

•Woman had not informed husband of her pregnancy or abortion

1. "My husband was working far away from home when I became pregnant. I terminated the pregnancy without telling him. He became very angry when he realized what I did."

2. "My husband wanted me to keep the baby in case we had a boy. But he worked far away from home; after he left I had an MR."