Summer 2020, Volume 29, Issue 2 (40-45)
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Advances in Nursing and Midwifery Original Article
The Awareness and Attitude of, Midwives
Working in Private Offices in Tehran Province,
Iran Toward Abortion Laws and Related Factors
Masoumeh Name
1
, Mahbobeh Ahmadi Doulabi
2,*
, Asiye Jafari
3
,
Fatemeh Salmani
4
1
Master’s Degree Midwifery, Majoring Forensic Medicine, Shahid Beheshti
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2
Assistant Professor, Midwifery and Reproductive Health Research Center,
Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health Shahid Beheshti University of
Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3
Legal Medicine Specialist, Member of Legal Medicine Reasearch Center, Tehran,
Iran
4
Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Epidemiology and
Biostatistics, School of Health Social Determinants of Health Research Center
Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
*Corresponding author: Mahbobeh Ahmadi Doulabi, Department of Midwifery
and Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Midwifery and
Reproductive Health Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
E-mail: mah1372@yahoo.com DOI: 10.29252/anm-30313
Submitted: 06-01-2020
Accepted: 13-02-2020
Published: 20-04-2020
Abstract
Introduction: Legal abortion is performed to prevent maternal and fetal disorders.
Midwives' awareness and attitude toward abortion laws have undeniable effects on the
decisions made by women with high-risk pregnancies. By recent study, The present
study evaluated the awareness and attitudes of midwives working in private offices in
Tehran Province, Iran, toward abortion laws and related factors.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was done in 2016. A total of 236 midwives
were selected from Tehran Province took simple random sampling. The data were
collected took using a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire by items
related to demographic characteristics, awareness, and attitude. The collected data
were analyzed by descriptive tests (mean, standard deviation, confidence interval,
frequency, and relative frequency) and linear regression analysis.
Results: The midwives' mean scores of awareness and attitude were 57.7 ± 7.44 (95%
CI: 56.61-58.54) and 99.08 ± 10.09 (95% CI: 97.83-100.38), respectively. Midwives'
age (B = 0.21), work shifts in the midwifery office (B = 1.29), being a member of the
Midwifery Learner Society (B = 3.05), and cooperating with local legal medicine
centers (B = 3.63) were found to be the predictors of awareness scores. Gain
experience in the midwifery office was the only predictor of midwives' attitude, i.e.,
every one-year increase in work experience decreased the scores of attitude by 1.61
points.
Conclusions: The participating midwives had a moderate level of awareness, which
was affected by different variables. Cooperating with local legal medicine centers had
the most significant effect on improving midwives' awareness. Moreover, the midwives
had low scores of attitude, and a few variables predicted their attitude.
Keywords:
Awareness
Attitude
Legal Abortion
Midwife
Relevant Factors
© 2020. Advances in Nursing
and Midwifery
How to cite:
Name M, Ahmadi Doulabi M,
Jafari A, Salmani F. The
Awareness and Attitude of,
Midwives Working in Private
Offices in Tehran Province, Iran
Toward Abortion Laws and
Related Factors. Adv Nurs
Midwifery. 2020;29(1):40-45.
doi: 10.29252/anm-30313
INTRODUCTION
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy (for
any reason) during the first 20 weeks or the removal of a
fetus weighing less than 500 g, i.e., before the fetus can
alive out of the uterus. Abortions can be either
spontaneous or induced. Induced abortions can be
illegal (intentional) or legal (therapeutic) [1]. In Iran, if
the pregnancy threatens the mother's life born, fetal
anomalies are presented, abortions are legally accepted.
Permissions from the Iranian Legal Medicine
Organization are essential in all cases [2]. Unsafe
abortions are considered as a serious global health issue.
Forty-six million out of 210 million pregnancies lead to
abortion each year, and half of these abortions are
unsafe. Laws forbiddance law to abort in many countries