Abortion rates in UK servicewomen

The number of women in the United Kingdom (UK) armed forces (AF) is rising each year, with women currently representing 11.7% of the regular military; people who work full-time for the AF.1 The UK Government has set ambitious targets to increase this to 30% by 2030 in the wake of the Atherton Report, which highlighted that the military is “still a man’s world”.2 Servicewomen are a population that are easily overlooked when it comes to women’s health provision and research. They are a minority in a large organisation, and highly mobile, with frequent postings and deployments, which may affect their healthcare delivery. For example, during pregnancy, they must register with a National Health Service (NHS) midwife for care therefore their maternity records are not saved on the military system, making them vulnerable to falling between services.

Around 4.5% of servicewomen become pregnant each year and 98% of…

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