Delivery of Audiovisual Information on Early Medical Abortion

Despite abortion being a common medical procedure, many women do not have access to good quality, reliable information about it. This may stem from the stigma and shame surrounding the procedure leading to less community knowledge and experience sharing compared to other medical conditions, for example diabetes or heart disease. Lack of knowledge and understanding about a medical procedure can cause anxiety, distress and confusion when seeing a healthcare professional, which in turn can prolong consultations. By introducing the short video animation, we are hoping that this will give the women attending the service a basic level of knowledge about Early Medical Abortion, reduce the anxiety and worry they are experiencing by informing them, and make them feel more confident and clear during their consultations. It has been shown in other studies that short videos in contraception and abortion consultations can have this impact, but a randomised control trial methodology has never been applied to this intervention. In a standard initial Early Medical Abortion visit a patient will experience the following Patient Journey: 1. Arrival and registration 2. Waiting for appointment in waiting room 3. Ultrasound scan to determine gestation 4. Self taken vulvovaginal swab for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea screening 5. Blood tests for : HIV, Syphilis, Full Blood Count, Blood Group 6. Return to the waiting room 7. Assessment consultation with healthcare professional (i.e. Specialist Nurse or Doctor) 8. Return to the waiting room 9. Treatment Consultation: to receive 'first part' of treatment i.e. Mifepristone and dates for 'second part' 24-48 hours later. 10. Leave department In the study, the above will happen, however patients will be given a participant information sheet (at step 1 above )when they arrive in department to register. At Step 6, when the patient has returned to the waiting room, eligible patients will be approached and asked if they would like to participate and if so will be randomised to 'standard of care' or 'intervention' (i.e. the video). They will resume the Patient Journey above and will again be approached at Step 8 or Step 10 to complete the short questionnaire. For the questionnaire: a single researcher will record, on a standard proforma, what information the subject had taken from the consultation and its accuracy, and the overall acceptability of the consultation using a Likert scale to quantify descriptors such as 'helpful', 'informative', 'understandable', 'impersonal', 'sympathetic' 'unsympathetic' etc. The number of women declining to participate in the study would be recorded .