Open AccessBurkina Faso: Upgrading postabortion care benefits patients and providers
Publication year - 2000
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.31899/rh2000.1002
Subject(s) - vacuum aspiration , abortion , medicine , unsafe abortion , miscarriage , family planning , intervention (counseling) , christian ministry , nursing , reproductive health , population , health care , medical emergency , family medicine , pregnancy , environmental health , biology , economics , research methodology , genetics , economic growth , philosophy , theology
At the request of the Family Health Directorate of the Ministry of Health in Burkina Faso, the Reproductive Health Research Network (CRESAR) conducted a study during 1996–98 to introduce emergency care for women with complications from miscarriage or unsafe abortion. With technical assistance from the Population Council and JHPIEGO, CRESAR trained staff at two large hospitals in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso to provide postabortion care (PAC). Training for physicians, nurses, and midwives covered manual vacuum aspiration, family planning methods, infection prevention, and communication with patients. Staff also participated in the development of policies and standards for PAC services. To measure changes in knowledge and behavior, CRESAR interviewed 330 patients with abortion complications and 78 providers before the intervention, and 456 patients and 41 providers after the intervention. This brief states that training hospital staff to improve emergency medical care for women with miscarriage and unsafe abortion leads to better patient care, shorter hospital stays, lower costs, and increased contraceptive use, and that local anesthesia is essential for pain control.