Fig. 4
Societal unacceptability of unwed pregnancy, desire to bear children only after marriage, and fear of parental disappointment possibly leads to unsafe abortion practices to avoid societal scorn. Source: conceptualised by authors (2018). This figure represents the 4th, 5th and 6th thematic result of this study with headings ‘Stigma of unplanned pregnancy’, Desire to bear children only after marriage’, Avoiding parental disappointment and resentment’ and ‘Desire to pursue education’