# Abortion care process based on sexual and reproductive health and rights in Japan: A qualitative study

## TL;DR

This study explores how Japanese midwives provide abortion care that respects women's sexual and reproductive health and rights.

## Contribution

It identifies a structured abortion care process grounded in SRHR principles through midwives' experiences.

## Key findings

- Abortion care was categorized into five main areas with 16 subcategories and 49 concepts.
- Midwives adopt a neutral, supportive role to help women make informed decisions and feel safe.
- Post-abortion care includes addressing contraception and future reproductive health.

## Abstract

This study aimed to clarify the process of abortion care based on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) practiced by Japanese midwives.

The participants were 44 midwives with experience in abortion care. Data were collected based on the framework developed by the World Health Organization's Clinical Practice Handbook for Safe Abortion and through detailed interview sessions. The modified grounded theory approach was used for data analysis.

The abortion care process was classified into five categories, 16 subcategories, and 49 concepts. The category “supporting women in making their own choices in life and leading their lives in the future” emerged as a foundational attitude toward abortion care. Midwives accompany pregnant women in the decision‐making process with a neutral standpoint. They perform procedures to ensure that women experience comfort and safety throughout the abortion process. After a medical procedure, midwives attend to issues associated with SRHR, such as contraception and future pregnancies.

Abortion care based on SRHR is a care practice that respects women's bodily autonomy and supports women in a non‐judgmental manner. Abortion care also aims to provide women with safe and comfortable medical treatment, thereby supporting them in progressing with hope to their post‐abortion lives. The study results will help midwives reaffirm the significance of abortion care, improve care quality in clinical settings, and contribute to the advocacy of women's SRHR.