Rohingya women's knowledge and perceptions about pregnancy termination in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh: a community-based study

The displaced Rohingya population residing in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, must navigate their reproductive lives in this fragile context. This study examines the knowledge, attitudes and use of menstrual regulation/pregnancy termination services in four displaced persons' camps to understand women’s engagement with these services and barriers to safe services using Bandura’s social cognitive theory. We conducted a household, community-based survey with women of reproductive age in 2022 (n = 1173). Ninety-two percent of respondents knew that health facilities provide pregnancy terminations, yet knowledge about when access is permissible is incomplete. Only one-third knew that this service could be provided 11−12 weeks after last menstrual period, with most respondents believing that the cutoff was earlier. The respondents believed that menstrual regulation was provided only under certain conditions, and 99% stated that a husband’s consent should be required for a woman to end a pregnancy (always or sometimes). One in five respondents (n = 223) knew someone who had ended a pregnancy since arriving in the camps. While knowledge about and support for pregnancy termination services are high, there is room for improvement in education about the conditions under which it can be accessed. The results fill a knowledge gap regarding the acceptability and use of pregnancy termination in the Bangladesh camps of displaced Rohingya.