Estimating the Incidence of Abortion in Burkina Faso

Idrissa Kabore, Institut Superieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP)
Clementine Rossier, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Gilda Sedgh, Guttmacher Institute

Abortion is illegal in Burkina Faso except in cases of incest, rape or fetal defect, or to save a woman’s life. In such settings, many abortions are unsafe, while measuring abortion incidence is difficult. We estimate the incidence of abortion and of associated morbidity in Burkina Faso using two methodologies: the Anonymous Third Party Reporting Method, which entails surveying women about abortions their confidantes have had, and the Health Facilities Complications Method, which involves gathering statistics on numbers of women hospitalized for abortion-related complications and surveying health professionals on the rate of complications and treatment from unsafe abortion. We present findings on the national incidence of abortion and the proportions of women who experience complications from unsafe abortion. We also compare findings from the two approaches. Preliminary results indicate that abortion incidence is low relative to some other countries in the region, while the rate of complications is high.