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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Nowrozy Kamar Jahan, MD, Joan Venghaus, RN, Kristina Margarita Graff, BA, Abu Jamil Faisel, MD, Sukanta Sarker, and S.M Shahidullah. EngenderHealth, House #52, Road #15A, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, 1209, Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, an estimated 14% of maternal mortality is due to abortion complications. Despite the availability of legal Menstrual Regulation services, clandestine abortions are widely practiced and often lead to complications. Postabortion care services are presently limited to emergency management using dilatation and curettage at the tertiary level; furthermore, postabortion clients frequently leave the treatment facility without receiving any family planning counseling or methods.
Comprehensive postabortion care (PAC) includes management of abortion complications, counseling and family planning, and linkages to other reproductive health services. To meet the needs of postabortion women in Bangladesh, EngenderHealth launched a program that provides comprehensive PAC training and technical assistance to six urban NGO clinics, one Asian Development funded clinic, and two government training centers. The program covers postabortion counseling and family planning, use of manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) equipment to treat complications, and improved infection prevention practices. Accompanying service delivery guidelines and a training manual were created and used to develop a core group of trainers. To extend the program’s reach beyond the tertiary care level, referral center service providers and 250 community workers and supervisors attended orientation workshops on the availability and value of comprehensive PAC services.
This PAC initiative stands apart from other projects because it aims to strengthen tertiary care services and referral networks simultaneously, and it extends across the public and private sectors. Lessons learned from this experience will be utilized to integrate PAC services into other NGO and government facilities. Program outputs and results will facilitate the adoption of a national policy for PAC services.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Post-Abortion Care, International Reproductive Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.