Sexual and reproductive health outcomes are positively associated with comprehensive sexual education exposure in Mexican high-school students.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the comprehensive sex education (CSE) coverage and to evaluate a set of indicators related to knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with the seven components of the CSE framework among Mexican high-school students. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of students in public and private high schools in Mexico. Questions about CSE coverage and about knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to sexual health were included. We present descriptive statistics for demographic characteristics, exposure to CSE, and sexual health outcomes. We fitted a series of multivariate logistic regression models to examine the association between each CSE component exposure and sexual health outcomes, adjusting for age and sex. RESULTS: There were significant associations between being exposed to each CSE components and the related sexual health outcomes. The strongest one was for identifying effective contraceptives among those exposed to the Sexual and Reproductive Health component (SRH) (OR 4.10; 95%CI[2.93,5.75]). Also, students exposed to the relationships component had 20% higher odds of affirming they could convince their partner to use condoms (OR 1.20; 95%CI[1.05,1.36]). CONCLUSIONS: This paper provides evidence of the potential beneficial effects of CSE on attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors regarding sexual and reproductive health among adolescents. In addition, it identifies areas that should be strengthened to increase the positive impact of CSE.

Abortion beliefs and practices among midwives (parteras) in a rural Mexican township.

Reproduction and motherhood are among the most important components of women's identity throughout Mexico and, for many women, are the only vehicles for gaining recognition and status in the family and community. At the same time, however, abortion is a central experience in the lives of many women and carries with it the complexities and contradictions of women's reproductive and sexual health. This paper presents results from an ethnographic study conducted with midwives in one rural township of Morelos, Mexico to understand their conceptualizations of and practices related to abortion and postabortion care. Overall, midwives viewed miscarriage as a woman's failure to fulfill her primary role as mother and induced abortion as a grave sin or crime. Nevertheless, under certain circumstances induced abortion was justified for many midwives. Helping women to "let down the period" in situations when a woman's menstrual period was delayed was acceptable to midwives as it was not viewed as abortion and enabled women to regain health and well-being.