This collaborative project demonstrates that receiving injectable contraceptives from community-based reproductive health agents proved as safe and acceptable to Ethiopian women as receiving them in health posts from health extension workers. These findings support the development, introduction and scale-up of programs to train community-based health workers to safely administer injectable contraceptives.
VSI in collaboration with local and international partner organizations conducted operations research (OR) across seven countries in Africa and Asia to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and program effectiveness of misoprostol use to prevent postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) at the community level. Developed for policy makers, stakeholders and researchers, the compendium includes an overview of the basic components of the OR model, country program summaries, and cross-cutting results and best practices to contribute to the growing evidence base on the community-level use of...
In this commentary co-authored by VSI and the Regional Experts’ Summit Group, 35 ob/gyns and public health experts from 12 countries in Africa call for political commitment to expanding access to misoprostol for its many uses in maternal health.
Unsafe abortion is one of leading causes of maternal mortality in Ethiopia, accounting for 30% of maternal deaths. With the 2005 revision of the criminal code, Ethiopia has one of the most liberal abortion laws on the continent and abortion-related services, including postabortion care (PAC), are available in both public and private facilities.
This brief, written in French, presents the findings from a study on misoprostol for treatment of incomplete abortion and miscarriage in Madagascar which demonstrate the safety and acceptability of the medication-based service. VSI supported partner Marie Stopes Madagascar in its implementation.
In Zambia, most of the maternal deaths due to PPH occur in places where there are few skilled birth attendants or a lack of skills or resources to manage bleeding and shock. This brief summarizes VSI’s Zambia program that trained providers on the distribution of misoprostol tablets to women in order to prevent PPH.
In Ethiopia the unmet need for family planning is one of the highest in the world; 34% of women who desire to control their fertility lack access to a modern form of contraception.
Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) makes a significant contribution to the number of maternal deaths in Nigeria. This brief summarizes research demonstrating misoprostol is a safe and effective means to control PPH at home births in five communities in Northern Nigeria.
This brief summarizes the final results a collaborative community-based pilot project of VSI, AMOG, the Bixby Center at UC Berkeley, and PSI. Results show that antenatal care visits and additional community-based strategies, such as TBAs, are key opportunities to reach women with misoprostol and educate them on its use for prevention of PPH.
VSI, AMOG and the Bixby Center at UC Berkeley conducted operations research addressing unsafe abortion with misoprostol in Mozambique. This research brief demonstrates that misoprostol is a promising alternative to surgical methods of treating incomplete abortion, and that expanding the level of health facility and provider trained on misoprostol can increase women’s access to these essential services.