Identifying priorities for reducing abortion stigma in the healthcare workforce

Reducing abortion stigma in the health system is an urgent challenge and public health imperative, aligned with national and state priorities. This project seeks to gather input from healthcare workers to inform the development of strategies to reduce abortion stigma in the Australian healthcare system.

Prior research by the lead investigator (in-depth interviews with abortion seekers) identified the different types of stigmatising behaviours that Australian abortion seekers experience on their pathways to abortion care (Makleff et al. 2023). This project builds on this work, bringing in healthcare workers perspectives.

We conducted an online survey (n=299) with healthcare workers who interact with abortion seekers on their pathways to care. These include general practitioners, nurses, social workers, sonographers, phlebotomists, counsellors, nurse practitioners, midwives, obstetrician/ gynaecologists, receptionists, and call centre workers.

We sought to understand these healthcare worker perspectives about:

(1) which healthcare worker behaviours matter most in terms of impacting quality of care and patient experiences

(2) which behaviours of healthcare workers are most amenable to change

(3) what are the barriers to and facilitators of stigma reduction

Findings will inform future strategies to reduce abortion stigma enacted towards abortion seekers by healthcare workers.