Training mid-level providers to offer medical abortion services after 12 weeks of pregnancy independently of physicians is feasible—and results in comparable clinical outcomes.
Training mid-level providers to offer medical abortion services after 12 weeks of pregnancy independently of physicians is feasible—and results in comparable clinical outcomes.
This article describes the pathways to care for women with severe abortion-related near miss events in a fragile context.
This evidence brief from the AMoCo study presents selected results of a knowledge, attitudes, practices, and behaviors (KAPB) survey given to health professionals in Jahun, Nigeria providing abortion-related care.
This evidence brief from the AMoCo study presents selected results of a knowledge, attitudes, practices, and behaviors (KAPB) survey given to health professionals providing abortion-related care. Providers are critical to providing timely and high-quality comprehensive abortion care (CAC) that can decrease abortion-related complications. This survey aims not only to assess the KAPB of CAC providers in hospital settings but to identify provider-related barriers to adequate CAC and points for improvement in the provision and accessibility of CAC services.
New research shows why bisexual and pansexual youth need comprehensive sexuality education that meets their needs
This research snapshot summarizes methods, key findings, and implications of the Abortion-related Morbidity and Mortality in Conflict-affected and Fragile Settings study conducted in Jahun, Nigeria and Bangui, Central African Republic.
This study describes the magnitude and severity of abortion-related complications in two referral hospitals located in two different types of fragile and conflict-affected settings and supported by Médecins Sans Frontières.
This evidence brief summarizes key findings from the qualitative component of the AMoCo study, which aims to describe the access to care and treatment of women and girls hospitalized in Castors Maternity Hospital in Bangui for potentially life-threatening and near-miss abortion complications such as severe haemorrhage, severe sepsis, and uterine and intra-abdominal perforation.
Research findings from Mozambique and Bangladesh
Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent, disrupting national economies and individual lives.
This eight-page brief outlines selected findings from a research project on the burden of abortion-related complications and their contributing factors in the Maternity of Castors in Bangui, Central African Republic. The study found a greater severity of abortion-related complications in this facility compared to African hospitals in stable settings and reinforces the need to recognize abortion as a serious health issue among fragile or crisis-affected populations.
Training mid-level providers to offer medical abortion services after 12 weeks of pregnancy independently of physicians is feasible—and results in comparable clinical outcomes.
These two fact sheets—Measuring Abortion Service Quality and Abortion Metrics Matter— describe the Abortion Service Quality Initiative’s work to develop a set of common, reliable and evidenced-based metrics to evaluate the quality of abortion care.
The objective of this research was to explore the context of abortion stigma in Ghana and Zambia through qualitative research, and develop a quantitative instrument to measure stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs about abortion. Focus group discussions were conducted in both countries, and a Stigmatizing Attitudes, Beliefs, and Actions scale was created. It captures three important dimensions of abortion stigma: negative stereotypes about men and women who are associated with abortion, discrimination/exclusion of women who have abortions, and fear of contagion as a result of coming into contact with a woman who has had an abortion. It provides a validated tool for measuring stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs about abortion in Ghana and Zambia and has the potential to be applicable in other country settings.
Research has not kept abreast of women’s self-use of medical abortion, leaving many gaps in the scientific literature regarding the ideal conditions for safe and effective use. In December 2016, a group of 20 global abortion researchers convened following the Africa Regional Conference on Abortion to discuss current and future research on medical abortion self-use. This article lays out their list of identified research gaps and methodologic considerations in addressing them—challenges that are intended to inform both ongoing and future research.
This study explored women’s experiences accessing services and estimate costs incurred for first-trimester abortion at four public hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Despite the availability of government assistance for children through South Africa’s “child grant,” the affordability of raising a child was a major concern for women. Although theoretically available free of charge in the public sector, women experienced challenges accessing abortion services and incurred costs which may have been burdensome given average local earnings. These potential barriers could be addressed by reducing the number of required visits and improving availability of pregnancy tests and supplies in public facilities.
Given the overall safety profile and increasing availability of medical pregnancy termination drugs, we asked: would the mifepristone–misoprostol regimen for medical termination at ≤10 weeks of gestation meet US Food and Drug Administration regulatory criteria for over-the-counter (OTC) approval, and if not, what are the present research gaps?
This study sought to determine the proportion of women presenting for an induced abortion in Ghana who could use a gestational wheel to determine if they had reached at least 13 weeks or fewer than 13 weeks of pregnancy accurately.
The objective of this study was to estimate the costs of public-sector abortion provision in South Africa and to explore the potential for expanding access at reduced cost by changing the mix of technologies used. It concludes that South Africa can provide more safe abortions for less money in the public sector through shifting the methods provided–and says that more research is needed to understand whether the cost of expanding access could be offset by savings from averting costs of managing unsafe abortions.