Effectiveness of self-managed abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a pooled analysis of two prospective, observational cohort studies in Nigeria

Globally, restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic altered access to clinical abortion care, as well as people's ability to access abortion medications on their own. When clinical care is inaccessible, or when self-care is preferred, people use pills on their own, without clinical supervision, to end their pregnancies–a practice known as "self-managed” abortion. Little is known about experiences of self-managed abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to measure experiences of self-managed abortion, including abortion completion, prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Between October 2019—September 2020, we recruited callers to a safe abortion accompaniment group that provides information on self-managed abortion in Nigeria. Participants completed a baseline phone survey, and two follow-up phone surveys. Primary outcomes included burdens experienced prior to versus during the pandemic, and abortion completion. We calculated frequencies and percentages overall and by time period and compared outcomes across time periods using t-tests, Chi-squared tests, tests of proportion, and Mantel-Haenszel adjusted odds ratios. Overall, 807 participants were included in these analyses. Participants enrolled during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to report needing to borrow money (47.9% vs 29.4%) and find lodging outside the home (15.5% vs 3.2%) for their self-managed abortion than were those enrolled prior to the pandemic. Participants reported COVID-19 related difficulties most frequently during the earliest and strictest period of the lockdowns, particularly in obtaining and taking pills (32.4%), and comfort seeking healthcare (12.2%). Nearly all participants (95%) reported a complete abortion at last follow-up. Results from this study underscore the challenges Nigerians faced during the COVID-19 pandemic in self-managing their abortions, and also the essential role that a safe abortion hotline played in expanding access to safe abortion during a time when the formal healthcare system was less accessible and higher-risk.

Effectiveness of self-managed abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a pooled analysis of two prospective, observational cohort studies in Nigeria.

Globally, restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic altered access to clinical abortion care, as well as people's ability to access abortion medications on their own. When clinical care is inaccessible, or when self-care is preferred, people use pills on their own, without clinical supervision, to end their pregnancies-a practice known as "self-managed" abortion. Little is known about experiences of self-managed abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to measure experiences of self-managed abortion, including abortion completion, prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Between October 2019-September 2020, we recruited callers to a safe abortion accompaniment group that provides information on self-managed abortion in Nigeria. Participants completed a baseline phone survey, and two follow-up phone surveys. Primary outcomes included burdens experienced prior to versus during the pandemic, and abortion completion. We calculated frequencies and percentages overall and by time period and compared outcomes across time periods using t-tests, Chi-squared tests, tests of proportion, and Mantel-Haenszel adjusted odds ratios. Overall, 807 participants were included in these analyses. Participants enrolled during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to report needing to borrow money (47.9% vs 29.4%) and find lodging outside the home (15.5% vs 3.2%) for their self-managed abortion than were those enrolled prior to the pandemic. Participants reported COVID-19 related difficulties most frequently during the earliest and strictest period of the lockdowns, particularly in obtaining and taking pills (32.4%), and comfort seeking healthcare (12.2%). Nearly all participants (95%) reported a complete abortion at last follow-up. Results from this study underscore the challenges Nigerians faced during the COVID-19 pandemic in self-managing their abortions, and also the essential role that a safe abortion hotline played in expanding access to safe abortion during a time when the formal healthcare system was less accessible and higher-risk.

A qualitative exploration of how the COVID-19 pandemic shaped experiences of self-managed medication abortion with accompaniment group support in Argentina, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Venezuela.

Globally, people self-manage their medication abortions without clinical assistance. Feminist activist collectives (accompaniment groups) support people through self-managed abortion with evidence-based guidance. We sought to understand the impact of COVID-19 and related restrictions on the need for and experiences of self-managed abortion with accompaniment support across varied legal and social contexts. Between May and October 2020, we conducted in-depth interviews with individuals who self-managed abortions with support from accompaniment groups during the pandemic in Argentina, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Venezuela. We conducted a thematic analysis to understand the impact of COVID-19 on participants' experiences with accompanied self-managed abortions. Across 43 in-depth interviews, participants in all four countries described how the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges at each step of their abortion process, from confirming the pregnancy, accessing abortion pills, finding a private, comfortable place, and verifying abortion completion. For most people, conditions related to the pandemic made it harder to self-manage an abortion; for a minority, being at home made aspects of the experience somewhat easier. Nonetheless, all participants reported feeling supported by accompaniment groups, and COVID-19 and related lockdowns reinforced their preference for accompaniment-supported self-managed abortion. These findings highlight the essential role that accompaniment groups play in ensuring access to high-quality abortion care in a multiplicity of settings, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts are needed to expand the reach of accompaniment groups to increase access to the high-quality abortion support they provide, filling a critical gap left by health systems and legal infrastructure.

Effectiveness of self-managed medication abortion with accompaniment support in Argentina and Nigeria (SAFE): a prospective, observational cohort study and non-inferiority analysis with historical controls.

BACKGROUND: Clinical trials have established the high effectiveness and safety of medication abortion in clinical settings. However, barriers to clinical abortion care have shifted most medication abortion use to out-of-clinic settings, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given this shift, we aimed to estimate the effectiveness of self-managed medication abortion (medication abortion without clinical support), and to compare it to effectiveness of clinician-managed medication abortion. METHODS: For this prospective, observational cohort study, we recruited callers from two safe abortion accompaniment groups in Argentina and Nigeria who requested information on self-managed medication abortion. Before using one of two medication regimens (misoprostol alone or in combination with mifepristone), participants completed a baseline survey, and then two follow-up phone surveys at 1 week and 3 weeks after taking pills. The primary outcome was the proportion of participants reporting a complete abortion without surgical intervention. Legal restrictions precluded enrolment of a concurrent clinical control group; thus, a non-inferiority analysis compared abortion completion among those in our self-managed medication abortion cohort with abortion completion reported in historical clinical trials using the same medication regimens, restricted to participants with pregnancies of less than 9 weeks' gestation. This study was registered with ISCRTN, ISRCTN95769543. FINDINGS: Between July 31, 2019, and April 27, 2020, we enrolled 1051 participants. We analysed abortion outcomes for 961 participants, with an additional 47 participants reached after the study period. Most pregnancies were less than 12 weeks' duration. Participants in follow-up self-managed their abortions using misoprostol alone (593 participants) or the combined regimen of misoprostol plus mifepristone (356 participants). At last follow-up, 586 (99%) misoprostol alone users and 334 (94%) combined regimen users had a complete abortion without surgical intervention. For those with pregnancies of less than 9 weeks' gestation, both regimens were non-inferior to medication abortion effectiveness in clinical settings. INTERPRETATION: Findings from this prospective cohort study show that self-managed medication abortion with accompaniment group support is highly effective and, for those with pregnancies of less than 9 weeks' gestation, non-inferior to the effectiveness of clinician-managed medication abortion administered in a clinical setting. These findings support the use of remote self-managed models of early abortion care, as well as telemedicine, as is being considered in several countries because of the COVID-19 pandemic. FUNDING: David and Lucile Packard Foundation. TRANSLATIONS: For the Arabic, French, Bahasa Indonesian, Spanish and Yoruba translations of the Article see Supplementary Materials section.