Previous research indicates that a considerable number of women with an unintended pregnancy experience difficulty deciding about continuing or terminating the pregnancy. We examined the decision-making processes of women who experienced high decision difficulty and women who experienced little decision difficulty, to gain insight in the factors that contribute to experienced decision difficulty. Sixty-nine women who had an abortion, and 40 women who had decided to continue their unintended pregnancy, participated in qualitative interviews. We found that women's decision processes varied on 11 relevant criteria. The decision-making processes of women who experienced little decision difficulty differed from that of women who experienced high decision difficulty, but the decision-making processes of women who carried their pregnancy to term and the high decision difficulty abortion group were strikingly similar. Implications of our findings for future research and for professional care for women who are in need of support during decision-making are discussed.
Keywords: abortion; decision making; parenting; pregnancy; qualitative; reproductive health; the Netherlands.