3.5.6 Postabortion and Safe abortion care

Voluntary contraception can reduce the demand for abortion; however, there will still be the need for and occurrence of abortions, especially in crisis settings. Access to safe abortion and post abortion care can reduce the occurrence of maternal mortality (UNFPA estimates by up to 50%), especially through the use of manual vacuum aspirators. Manual vacuum aspirators are critical for life-saving procedures for treating complications of abortions, both induced and spontaneous. Almost in all countries, post abortion care is an accepted best practice for managing complications of abortion. There are only a hand-full of countries that have strict regulations on providing access to safe abortion services. Almost all countries provide some conditions where abortion services are legal and life-saving. CO’s must determine their capacity to provide these services as well as their comfort level.

For more information see relevant chapters for the Inter-agency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings in Annex 26.5.6 or additional resources in Annex 26.5.17.