Women’s experiences of emergency post-abortion care at Kawempe National Referral Hospital, Uganda: a qualitative descriptive study
Discuss this preprint
Start a discussion What are Sciety discussions?Listed in
This article is not in any list yet, why not save it to one of your lists.Abstract
Background
Post-abortion care (PAC) encompasses emergency treatment, counselling, contraceptive services, and referral linkages. Emergency post-abortion care (EPAC), the life-saving component of PAC, addresses acute abortion-related complications, including haemorrhage, sepsis, retained products of conception, and severe pain. In Uganda, where abortion is legally restricted and socially stigmatised, women’s care experiences are shaped by clinical urgency, fear, moral vulnerability, provider interactions, and structural health system constraints. Despite EPAC’s centrality to maternal survival, qualitative evidence on how women interpret and evaluate their care experiences in referral hospital settings in Uganda remains limited. This study explored women’s experiences of EPAC at Kawempe National Referral Hospital (KNRH) and identified the factors that shaped those experiences.
Methods
A qualitative descriptive design employing inductive thematic analysis was used. Sixteen in-depth interview transcripts from women who received EPAC at KNRH in March–April 2026 were analysed. The Socio-Ecological Model (SEM) was subsequently applied as a post-hoc organising framework to situate findings across individual, interpersonal, facility, and community levels.
Results
Six themes were identified: (1) survival and physical relief as the immediate measure of good care; (2) pain, fear, and emotional distress during treatment; (3) reassurance and support as buffers against vulnerability; (4) dignity under pressure: communication and privacy in EPAC; (5) structural barriers across the pathway of care; and (6) experiences beyond discharge: incomplete recovery and uncertainty. Care was frequently evaluated through the lens of survival, yet these accounts co-existed with intense procedural pain, compromised privacy, delays, financial burden, and inadequate post-discharge support. EPAC at KNRH was experienced as a complex encounter shaped by bodily vulnerability, interpersonal dynamics, and system-level constraints.
Conclusions
Strengthening EPAC requires patient-centred approaches that integrate clinical effectiveness with respectful communication, pain management, improved triage, and structured post-discharge support.
