Quality of Spousal Relationship on Procurement of Abortion in Peri-Urban Nigeria

Abstract

The quality of spousal relationship may influence the acceptance of the status of pregnancies and the decision to procure abortion; however, this relationship has largely been unexplored. The objective of this paper is to assess the influence of specific dimensions of relationship quality on abortion procurement. Data from the 2010 Family Health and Wealth Survey site were used to assess the association between relationship quality and induced abortion among 763 ever-pregnant married or cohabiting women in Ipetumodu, South-west Nigeria. Abortion question though not directly related to current time, however, it provides a proxy for the analysis in such context where abortion is highly restrictive with high possibility of underestimation. The association between relationship quality and abortion risk was analyzed using bivariate and multivariate (logistic regression) methods. Only 7.9% of women 15-49 years reported ever having induced abortion. Communication was the only dimension of relationship quality that showed significant association with history of induced abortion (aOR=0.42; 95% C.I. =0.24-0.77). The paper concludes that spousal communication is a significant issue that deserves high consideration in efforts to improve maternal health in Nigeria.

Keywords: Induced abortion, Spousal communication, Nigeria, relationship-quality