6 

Information, Resources, and Techniques for Managing Abortion and  

Birth in Ga Mashi Town  

 Friends in my area usually go to [the hospital] for the abortions, and in my community 

it is no secret talking about abortions.  

The girls' knowledge about experiences with abortion are analyzed below, using the 

participants' retrospective reports. All of the 28 cases of abortion for which data were collected

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(19 among girls between the ages of 14 and 19, and 9 among women age 20 to 24), and several 

abortion attempts are analyzed below. Of the successful abortions, 23 were clinic abortions and 5 

were herbal.  The analysis of these abortions will indicate who assisted the girls in obtaining the 

procedure, how much the procedure cost and who paid for it, and how the girls perceived the 

experience.  We will also inquire about postabortion complications and postabortion care and 

counseling. 

6.1 Knowledge 

About 

Abortion 

Nearly all the participants, whether or not they had ever had an abortion, discussed at 

least two or three methods of abortion with the interviewers. For example, although Diana said 

she had never had an abortion, she described both herbal and home remedy methods of abortion. 

I know of a drug sold at the timber market called Aatsoo. It is sold by the herbalists. It is 

round and you insert it in the vagina. After a couple of days, the pregnancy will be 

aborted. There is another way. This time you mix milk with a lot of sugar and drink and 

the pregnancy will come. Others too mix some coffee with a lot of sugar and milk. This is 

supposed to be drunk. Others too go to the hospitals, and the doctors insert and push 

some metal instruments in the vagina and terminate the pregnancy. [Diana] 

Information on herbal medicines and home remedies such as those described by Diana, as 

well as where to obtain clinical abortions and when to have an abortion, was easily obtained by 

the participants. They said that they learned the information most often from friends and peers, 

who were described as the best source of information on abortion. Some participants also 

described what they had learned about abortion in school, on television, or from older family 

members.  

One participant, for example, said that she had learned about an herbal remedy called 

 Auntie Mercy  from her mother and aunts by listening to them discuss it, and eventually by 

running errands to buy it for them. 

When those who are older than me my aunties and mother are chatting, I go and sit 

and listen. When they ask me to leave, I don't go. I pretend I'm not listening, but I hear 

everything. . . They used to talk about it, so I knew the purpose for which they used it 

when they sent me to buy it, so I also bought some. [Pauline]  

6

 Participants experienced 30 abortions collectively.  Data were collected for 28 of these. 

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