184522 Challenges and successes in the offer of postabortion contraception in seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 8:30 AM

M. Estela Rivero-Fuentes, PhD , Centro de Estudios Demográficos, Urbanos y Ambientales (CEDUA), El Colegio de México, Mexico City, Mexico
Ricardo Vernon, PhD , Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program, Population Council, Mexico City, Mexico
The offer of family planning services is considered one of the central elements of postabortion care. Yet, in many health units of the developing world postabortion clients are discharged without having received family planning services or a referral first. This project presents the results of diagnostic studies in seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru) that explored how well integrated were postabortion care and family planning services in a sample of public and private health units, what are the main family planning needs of postabortion clients, what are the capabilities and attitudes of health providers regarding postabortion family planning. In each of the countries in this study we visited a number of health units and conducted exit interviews with postabortion clients and with health providers. The results show that postabortion clients have an important unmet need for family planning services, and that the two services can be successfully integrated with some simple interventions.

Learning Objectives:
Describe the initiative of public and private health units in Latin America and the Caribbean to integrate family planning and postabortion services. 2. Describe the need for family planning services among postabortion women in the region, Discuss how well prepared health providers and health units are to meet this need Describe some interventions that have helped to make family planning services more accessible to postabortion clients.

Keywords: Post-Abortion Care, Family Planning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been directly involved, along with my co-author, in the research projects whose results will be presented
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Family Planning Integration: Postpartum, Postabortion and Maternal and Newborn Services
See more of: Population, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health