Pregnancy Safety and Termination

Author(s):  
Natalie S. Whaley ◽  
Adam Evans

Access to compassionate, nonjudgmental, and safe abortion care for medically complex women is an important component of obstetric care for high-risk women. The care of women with neurologic disease who seek pregnancy termination or management of pregnancy failure includes consideration of their particular medical, anesthesia, and surgical needs. Counseling regarding pregnancy options is an important first step in helping women achieve their family planning goals. Understanding the safety of abortion, as well as options for medical, surgical, or labor induction termination can help providers discuss pregnancy options with women. Resources are available to help non-obstetric providers ensure their patients have access to medically sound, evidence-based information about pregnancy termination.

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
TR Bhandari ◽  
G Dangal

Twenty-five years have passed since the global community agreed in Nairobi to address the high maternal mortality by implementing the Safe Motherhood Initiative.  However, every year around 22 million women seek unsafe abortion in developing countries. Globally, the unsafe abortion accounts for 13% maternal deaths. Out of the total aborted women, around five million women were admitted to hospitals as a result of unsafe abortion. Similarly, more than three million women suffer from severe complications from unsafe abortion every year. In 2002, responding to the public voices and high attribution of unsafe abortion on maternal mortality, Nepal granted legal access to safe abortion introducing safe abortion act. Women can seek abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation for any indication. However, sex selective pregnancy termination is prohibited in Nepal. This study aimed to assess the results of various studies on abortion practices in Nepal. Literature published in PubMed, Lancet, Medline, WHO and Google Scholar web pages from 1990 to 2014 were used to prepare this paper. From 2004 to 2014, more than half a million women sought safe abortion care in Nepal. Despite the considerable progress, unsafe abortion is still a major issue in Nepal as it has been estimated that it constitutes half of all abortions undertaken every year. Published literature further showed that still an unmet need of safe abortion services exists in Nepal. However, the overall awareness of legal abortion was found to be high among Nepalese women. We found negative attitude of most people towards women who sought abortion care. Similarly, a large number of unmarried women were found at risk for seeking abortion care due to socio-cultural norms, values and stigmas in Nepal.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e20660-e20660
Author(s):  
Ian M. Collins ◽  
Louise A. Keogh ◽  
Emma Steel ◽  
Bruce Mann ◽  
Jon Emery ◽  
...  

e20660 Background: End user input into the design of decision support tools is critical to enhance integration and future routine use in clinical practice. As part of the development of an evidence-based, tailored, computerized breast cancer (BC) risk assessment and management tool, we examined clinicians’ requirements. Methods: Australian breast surgeons (BSs) and primary care clinicians (PCCs) were recruited through local professional networks. Facilitated focus group discussions about current practice of assessing and managing BC risk and perceptions of the proposed tool were audiotaped transcribed and managed using QSR NVivo. A coding framework was developed based on the transcripts, data were coded and each code further analyzed to identify key themes. Results: Four focus groups, involving 12 BSs, 17 PCCs (12 doctors, 5 practice nurses) were conducted. 55 % were male, mean age 45yrs (range 25-67), mean of 14yrs in practice (range1-25+). Clinicians identified difficulties assessing and managing BC risk and lack of available tools to standardise their current inconsistent approach to risk assessment and management. Most felt confident identifying high risk women, but found differentiating women at population risk from those at moderately increased risk more difficult. They felt a tool would help them reassure anxious low to moderate risk women and avoid unnecessary onward referral or investigations and better identify and refer or manage high risk women. Desirable features in a tool included: evidence-based, accessible (web-based), visual, simple data entry process, displays absolute risk (rather than relative) and mutable risk and risk reduction estimates in multiple formats (words, pictographs, graphs) to improve comprehension, printable summary sheets. Clinicians felt that women could input risk factors before the clinic visit but that joint consumer and clinician data entry was preferable and women should only receive a risk estimate with a clinician present. Conclusions: Development of tools for BC risk assessment and management should address these clearly identified needs of end users in order to optimise translation of current and future knowledge into clinical practice.


Author(s):  
Hang Wun Raymond Li ◽  
Pak Chung Ho

When an unintended pregnancy occurs secondary to contraceptive failure, the availability of safe means of pregnancy termination is important to minimize morbidities and mortalities associated with the abortion procedure. Where allowed within the legal constraints, access to safe abortion should be facilitated without prejudice and stigmatization. The healthcare providers should offer proper pre-abortion counselling and assessment, and choice of the abortion method should be made based on the gestational age and local expertise. Both medical and surgical methods are available for the effective termination of first- and second-trimester pregnancies. Most recommended regimens for medical abortion involve the use of misoprostol with or without mifepristone, whereas surgical abortions generally employ suction evacuation of the uterus. Providers of abortion service should be familiarized with the evidence-based guidelines and protocols published by various authorities on the abortion procedures and postabortion care, as well as means to prevent complications.


2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret R. Weeks ◽  
Jean J. Schensul ◽  
Laurie Novick Sylla

Author(s):  
A Koutras ◽  
K Salampasis ◽  
N Euaggelinakis ◽  
H Polyzou ◽  
D Dellaporta ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document