PREVALENCE OF HERBAL SELF-MANAGED ABORTION USE IN THE US

IF 2.3 2区医学 Q1 OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY

Contraception Pub Date : 2025-10-13 DOI:10.1016/j.contraception.2025.111095

TX Chen, MA Biggs, D Grossman, S Kaller, R Schroeder, L Ralph

{"title":"PREVALENCE OF HERBAL SELF-MANAGED ABORTION USE IN THE US","authors":"TX Chen, MA Biggs, D Grossman, S Kaller, R Schroeder, L Ralph","doi":"10.1016/j.contraception.2025.111095","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>We aimed to describe the most common herbs, botanicals, and other supplements used for self-managed abortion and the population who uses them.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This is a descriptive analysis of two serial cross-sectional surveys of a nationally representative sample of the US population administered in December 2021 to January 2022 and May to July 2023. Participants included panel members assigned female sex at birth, aged 18-49 (or aged 15-17 with a consenting household member), who were English- or Spanish-speaking. We used weighted, descriptive statistics to examine the proportion who reported using herbs “to try to end a pregnancy on their own, without medical assistance.”</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Among 10,764 unique respondents across both surveys, 312 respondents reported having ever attempted self-managed abortion, and 90 reported having ever used herbs for self-managed abortion, representing 0.9% of the US female population. Their mean age was 22.6 years, with no significant differences in socio-demographic characteristics, including race/ethnicity, financial situation, nativity, and sexual orientation, between those who used herbal vs. other methods. In open-ended responses (n=74), participants reported using parsley (n=7), vitamin C (n=7), black cohosh (n=5), and mugwort (n=5); however, many did not know the exact herb used (n=29) (eg, “Chinese herbs”). Some (n=10) listed more than one herb.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Approximately 1% of the US female population has ever attempted self-managed abortion with herbs, with parsley and Vitamin C being the most commonly used items. Further research is needed to establish their safety and efficacy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10762,"journal":{"name":"Contraception","volume":"151 ","pages":"Article 111095"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Contraception","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010782425002860","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

We aimed to describe the most common herbs, botanicals, and other supplements used for self-managed abortion and the population who uses them.

Methods

This is a descriptive analysis of two serial cross-sectional surveys of a nationally representative sample of the US population administered in December 2021 to January 2022 and May to July 2023. Participants included panel members assigned female sex at birth, aged 18-49 (or aged 15-17 with a consenting household member), who were English- or Spanish-speaking. We used weighted, descriptive statistics to examine the proportion who reported using herbs “to try to end a pregnancy on their own, without medical assistance.”

Results

Among 10,764 unique respondents across both surveys, 312 respondents reported having ever attempted self-managed abortion, and 90 reported having ever used herbs for self-managed abortion, representing 0.9% of the US female population. Their mean age was 22.6 years, with no significant differences in socio-demographic characteristics, including race/ethnicity, financial situation, nativity, and sexual orientation, between those who used herbal vs. other methods. In open-ended responses (n=74), participants reported using parsley (n=7), vitamin C (n=7), black cohosh (n=5), and mugwort (n=5); however, many did not know the exact herb used (n=29) (eg, “Chinese herbs”). Some (n=10) listed more than one herb.

Conclusions

Approximately 1% of the US female population has ever attempted self-managed abortion with herbs, with parsley and Vitamin C being the most commonly used items. Further research is needed to establish their safety and efficacy.

查看原文本刊更多论文

美国草药自主流产的流行情况

我们的目的是描述用于自我管理流产的最常见草药、植物药和其他补充剂以及使用它们的人群。方法：这是对2021年12月至2022年1月和2023年5月至7月对美国人口进行的两次具有全国代表性的连续横断面调查的描述性分析。参与者包括出生时被指定为女性的小组成员，年龄在18-49岁（或在家庭成员同意的情况下年龄在15-17岁），说英语或西班牙语。我们使用加权的描述性统计数据来检查报告使用草药“试图在没有医疗帮助的情况下自行结束妊娠”的比例。结果在这两项调查的10764名独特受访者中，312名受访者报告曾尝试过自我管理流产，90名受访者报告曾使用草药进行自我管理流产，占美国女性人口的0.9%。他们的平均年龄为22.6岁，在使用草药和其他方法的人群中，社会人口统计学特征没有显著差异，包括种族/民族、经济状况、出生和性取向。在开放式回答（n=74）中，参与者报告使用欧芹（n=7）、维生素C （n=7）、黑升麻（n=5）和艾草（n=5）；然而，许多人不知道确切使用的草药（n=29）（例如，“中草药”）。有些人（n=10）列出了一种以上的草药。结论：大约1%的美国女性曾经尝试过用草药进行自我管理流产，其中最常用的是欧芹和维生素C。需要进一步的研究来确定它们的安全性和有效性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Contraception 医学-妇产科学

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

17.20%

发文量

211

审稿时长

69 days

期刊介绍： Contraception has an open access mirror journal Contraception: X, sharing the same aims and scope, editorial team, submission system and rigorous peer review. The journal Contraception wishes to advance reproductive health through the rapid publication of the best and most interesting new scholarship regarding contraception and related fields such as abortion. The journal welcomes manuscripts from investigators working in the laboratory, clinical and social sciences, as well as public health and health professions education.