AB1598-HPR MOTHERHOOD AND FAMILY PLANNING BELIEFS IN WOMEN WITH AUTOIMMUNE RHEUMATIC DISEASES
Authors: F. R. Arevalo-Nieto, L. L. Arenas-Ruiz, A. Carrazco-Chapa, M. E. Corral-Trujillo, G. Rodriguez-Orozco, A. G. Rodriguez-Flores, C. M. Skinner-Taylor, L. Perez-Barbosa, D. A. Galarza-Delgado
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2024)

<h3>Background:</h3> Autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) in women cause fertility issues, delays in family planning, and fetal and neonatal deaths. Women in Mexico are torn between being a mother as the only life's meaning and having well-rounded personal growth. Women with ARDs should analyze motherhood as a complementary decision and not as a duty, letting their rheumatologists discuss with them the use of contraception and family planning. Knowing the patients' motherhood and contraception beliefs can help patients not make hasty decisions regarding pregnancy and family planning, putting their lives and their unborn babies at risk. <h3>Objectives:</h3> To describe the motherhood and family planning beliefs in women with ARDs. <h3>Methods:</h3> A cross-sectional, and descriptive study was conducted. We included reproductive-age women (18 – 50 years) with ARDs of the Reproduction and Pregnancy Clinic in Rheumatic Diseases (CREER) of the University Hospital "Dr. José Eleuterio González", in Mexico, who were interrogated about contraception use and maternity beliefs. The maternity beliefs scale (MBS) is arranged in 2 subscales: sense of life (scores 0 – 40) and social duty (scores 0 – 25), with a higher score indicating a higher distortion in their personal maternal beliefs. Women were classified by contraception use. The Smirnov test was used to determine normality. Data were presented as percent frequency, mean ± standard deviation (SD), or median and interquartile range (IQR) as appropriate. A p&lt; 0.05 was considered significant. <h3>Results:</h3> A total of 34 women with ARDs had a mean age of 31.91±5.11. The most frequent diagnosis was rheumatoid arthritis with 17 (50.0%) women followed by systemic lupus erythematosus with 9 (26.5%). The median of the patients' offspring was 1 (IQR 1-2). The social and clinical characteristics are described in Table 1. Out of the total, 18 (52.9) women were using a contraception method while 16 (47.1) were without contraception one. For the women with contraception use, the sense of life score median was 8.00 (IQR 2.50 – 16.50), and the social duty score median was 1.00 (IQR 0 – 7.00). For the women without contraception use, the sense of life score median was 10.50 (IQR 4.50 – 17.50), and the social duty score median was 4.50 (IQR 0.50 – 9.25). There were no significant differences between groups. <h3>Conclusion:</h3> More than 60% of our patients don't have a pregnancy desire on the next 12 months nevertheless; they aren't using a contraception method. These contradictory practices are common in our population because of the patients' personal beliefs in family planning and motherhood and their reluctance to have counseling from their health specialists. Knowing and understanding these beliefs can help to create more significant approaches in educating the patients regarding their overall health. <h3>REFERENCES:</h3> <b>NIL.</b> <h3>Acknowledgements:</h3> <b>NIL.</b> <h3>Disclosure of Interests:</h3> <b>None declared.</b>