Provision of abortion by mid-level providers.
Article Type: Author abstract
Subject: Abortion (Laws, regulations and rules)
Abortion (Management)
Maternal health services (Laws, regulations and rules)
Midwives (Training)
Nurses (Training)
Pub Date: 11/01/2009
Publication: Name: Reproductive Health Matters Publisher: Reproductive Health Matters Audience: General Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Family and marriage; Health; Women's issues/gender studies Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2009 Reproductive Health Matters ISSN: 0968-8080
Issue: Date: Nov, 2009 Source Volume: 17 Source Issue: 34
Topic: Event Code: 930 Government regulation; 940 Government regulation (cont); 980 Legal issues & crime; 200 Management dynamics; 280 Personnel administration Advertising Code: 94 Legal/Government Regulation Computer Subject: Government regulation; Company business management
Product: Product Code: 8043500 Midwives; 8043100 Nurses NAICS Code: 621399 Offices of All Other Miscellaneous Health Practitioners SIC Code: 8049 Offices of health practitioners, not elsewhere classified
Geographic: Geographic Scope: United States Geographic Code: 1USA United States
Accession Number: 225074385
Full Text: Based on articles found on PubMed and Popline on the provision of first-trimester abortion by mid-level providers, this article describes policies on type of abortion provider, comparative studies of different types of abortion provider, provider perspectives, and programmatic experience in Bangladesh, Cambodia, France, Mozambique, South Africa, Sweden, United States and Viet Nam. It shows that it is safe and beneficial for suitably trained mid-level health care providers, including nurses, midwives and other non-physician clinicians, to provide first-trimester vacuum aspiration and medical abortions. Moreover, it finds that projects in Kenya, Myanmar and Uganda have successfully trained nurse-midwives to provide post-abortion care for incomplete abortion with manual vacuum aspiration, and that studies in Ethiopia and India have recommended that providers such as auxiliary nurse-midwives should be trained in abortion service delivery to ensure that they provide safe abortions for low-income women. The paper recommends the authorisation of all qualified mid-level health care providers to carry out first-trimester abortions, and also recommends the integration of training in providing first-trimester abortion care into basic education and clinical training for all mid-level providers and medical students interested in obstetrics and gynaecology. Finally, it calls for documentation of the role of mid-level providers in managing second-trimester medical abortions to further inform policy and practice. (1)

(1.) Berer M. Provision of abortion by mid-level providers: international policy, practice and perspectives. Bulletin of WHO 2009;87(1): 58-63.
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