The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #58968

Richard F. Mason, MPH, Maureen Corbett, MIA, and Leah Levin, MHS. Intrah/PRIME II, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 8100, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8100

Postabortion family planning (PAFP) is vital to help women space a subsequent desired pregnancy or prevent a further unintended or mistimed pregnancy. An essential element of the postabortion care (PAC) model, PAFP is weak in many countries with PAC activities, and is a priority element for strengthening as PAC services are scaled-up. In Uzbekistan, where abortion services are not legally restricted, repeat abortions are frequent. As the country transitions from subsidized, socialized medicine to more primary, preventive health care, the PRIME II Project is assisting the Ministry of Health to improve the availability, quality and acceptability of PAFP services. While modern methods of family planning are distributed free of charge through public-sector facilities, evidence suggests that service providers do not routinely offer family planning information, counseling or services to postabortion clients. To address gaps in existing data on PAFP in Kyrgyzstan, including causes and potential solutions for high levels of disapproval of family planning among women, PRIME has collected qualitative and quantitative data to identify key factors and barriers influencing the accessibility and use of PAFP services. This presentation will detail findings from an analysis of data from focus-group discussions with postabortion women about barriers to use of PAFP, along with data from service provider interviews on knowledge, skills, current practices and beliefs. The program in Kyrgyzstan is part of a multi-country PRIME-assisted initiative to develop and test evidence-based approaches for overcoming client, provider and facility-level obstacles to the provision and acceptance of PAFP counseling and services.

Learning Objectives:

• • Describe how increasing the acceptability and use of postabortion family planning supports the transition underway in Uzbekistan’s health care delivery system.
  • Identify client, provider and facility barriers to the accessibility and use of postabortion family planning services in Uzbekistan.
  • Discuss approaches to overcoming obstacles to postabortion family planning at the client, provider and facility levels.

Keywords: Post-Abortion Care, Family Planning

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.