Exploring the experiences of black women who have had a termination.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the experiences of black women in London who have had a termination of pregnancy, a mixed method study.
IRAS ID
324789
Contact name
Denise Blair
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sussex
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
2023/01/BLA, British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) reference number
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 12 days
Research summary
Good reproductive health is vital to public health, as the consequences of sub-standard reproductive health are not only felt by the woman, man and child but by wider society. Studies show that throughout life, black women in Britain generally experience poorer reproductive health outcomes than other ethnic groups. Black women also have higher rates of undergoing certain reproductive health procedures such as terminations of pregnancy.
Each year over 220,000 terminations of pregnancies occur within Britain, but this occurrence is not distributed proportionately between different ethnic groups. Black women have higher rates of terminations and repeat terminations. Research carried out in the US reveals similar findings and suggest this is the result of lower socioeconomic status, less use of long acting contraception, abuse and racism. Although these studies suggest explanations for why black women in the US have the highest rates of terminations, the findings cannot be easily transferred to the UK as contextually the US and UK are very different, mainly due to their healthcare systems and women’s access to terminations.
Within Britain there is very little research which investigates why there is a notable difference in termination rates amongst different ethnic groups. This study aims to help fill this gap in knowledge by exploring the lived experiences of black women in London who have had a termination of pregnancy.
This study will carry out semi- structured, 1:1, online interviews with black women who live in London and have had a termination of pregnancy, to explore their lived experiences. The results of the study will be thematically analysed to show the lived experiences of black women who have had a termination of pregnancy.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/NW/0229
Date of REC Opinion
14 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion