Abstract
The study looks at the psychological aspects of the decision to terminate a pregnancy. The introduction discusses some of the influences that may affect the decision, such as a woman's perception of motherhood, attitude to pregnancy, crisis or stress.
The empirical part is based on interviews with women who have experienced the decision to terminate a pregnancy. An anamnestic questionnaire is used as supplementary material to these interviews.
The main aim of this research is to bring to light the unique experience of women who have made the decision to terminate a pregnancy. In more detail, the thesis focuses on identifying the factors that helped the women in their decision making process.
A distinction is made between internal and external factors influencing the women's decision. Through the method of IPA (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis), partner support and resilience to stress were identified as the main factors.
Equally important were the woman's starting position with which she entered into the decision-making process, her attitude towards pregnancy and motherhood, her previous experience of motherhood, childcare or experience with children with disabilities, support from health professionals and perceived availability of services. Respondents strongly reflected the conflict between the emotional and rational components of decision-making.
Although the experience described by the women is different in many aspects, we believe that this is a topic that needs to be brought up. In the conclusion, the factors that the women in the research survey considered important for their decision are discussed.