The ELSA joint project

The research project "Experiences and life situations of unwanted pregnant women - counselling and care services (ELSA)" aims to gather findings on the key factors influencing the experience and processing of unwanted pregnancies in Germany as well as on the needs of women* and the medical and psychosocial care situation.

In order to further develop the care of women* with unwanted or terminated pregnancies and to be able to address support needs, knowledge of stressful experiences as well as coping strategies and consequences is required. The subjective and structural significance of the health and psychosocial counselling system also plays a decisive role here.

Existing research gaps are to be closed and social and health burdens and resources before, during and after unwanted pregnancies are to be analysed over time.

The multicentre and interdisciplinary research project ELSA is funded by the Federal Ministry of Health. Work will be carried out in six study centres (Fulda, Freiburg, Berlin, Ulm, Merseburg, Nordhausen) from November 2020 to the end of April 2024 with different focuses. The project will also be supported by an advisory board consisting of experts from the healthcare sector, professional associations and advisory organisations.

The aim is to use the scientific data to draw conclusions for improving the health and psychosocial care of unintended pregnant women*, on the basis of which the support system can be further developed effectively and in line with requirements.

ELSA-VG at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences

ELSA-VG at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences analyses the perspective of women* who may be confronted with particular challenges due to their life situation. In particular, we focus on the experiences and perspectives of women* who have experienced migration and/or flight, illegalised women* and women* who experienced violence in their partnership at the time of the unwanted pregnancy.

We would like to use the interviews with the women in our target groups to derive needs from their life situations and identify influencing factors. The structural and personal challenges and burdens they were confronted with and the resources available to them will be analysed.

Based on their individual experiences, existing services as well as possible access barriers and gaps in the psychosocial and medical support system are to be recorded.

Through our scientific contribution, we want to support federal and state policy as well as institutions and organisations in sustainably improving the care of unintentionally pregnant women*.

Methods

1. standardised cross-sectional survey

Under the direction of Prof. Dr Petra J. Brzank, our project team is conducting a cross-sectional survey together with Fulda University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr Daphne Hahn), the Social Science Research Institute for Gender Issues Freiburg (Prof. Dr Cornelia Helfferich†), Merseburg University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr Maika Böhm), Freie Universität Berlin (Prof. Dr Christine Knaevelsrud) and the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy II of the Medical Faculty at Ulm University (Privatdozentin Dr Silvia Krumm).

All research centres included their own questions in the questionnaire, depending on their own work package.

2. in-depth qualitative interviews

In addition to the standardised survey, 50 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with the women* in our target group in order to capture their individual experiences in the best possible way and formulated by them. In the interviews, the interviewees were given the opportunity to present their perspectives in detail.

We are aware that the counselling and care situation of these women is strongly influenced by external factors and is characterised by a lack of care. These unintentionally pregnant women* sometimes have no access to counselling and care via standard care. In addition, the care landscape in Germany varies greatly from region to region and the access routes are diverse and in some cases heavily dependent on the resources of the women* seeking support.

This is where our research project comes in.

It is important to us to learn about the experiences and living conditions of women* directly from them in order to describe their needs in greater depth and thus contribute to the improvement and further development of the care situation for these groups in particular.