Confronting Maternal Mortality Due to Postpartum Hemorrhage and Unsafe Abortion: A Call for Commitment

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.

Saving Maternal Lives in Resource-Poor Settings

Facing Reality

This 2009 article published in Health Policy evaluates safe-motherhood interventions suitable for resource-poor settings that can be implemented with current resources.

Comprehensive Abortion Care Pilot Project in Tigray, Ethiopia

VSI, the Tigray Regional Health Bureau and the Bixby Center at UC Berkeley conducted a pilot program assessing the feasibility of providing comprehensive abortion care at all levels of the health care system in Tigray, Ethiopia, including by Health Extension Workers.

Publications: Misoprostol for Medication Abortion

This table shows a summary of selected publications addressing the use of misoprostol for medication abortion.

Publications: Misoprostol for Treatment of Incomplete Abortion and Miscarriage

This table shows a summary of selected publications addressing the use of misoprostol for the treatment of incomplete abortion and miscarriage.

Misoprostol for PAC: Policy Endorsements

Misoprostol has been endorsed by the WHO, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics for treatment of incomplete abortion and miscarriage.

Misoprostol for Treatment of Incomplete Abortion in Madagascar

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.

Characteristics of Women Seeking Abortion-related Services in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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.

Misoprostol Use in Postabortion Care: A Service Delivery Toolkit

This toolkit is designed to help district or national-level clinicians, facility managers or program managers initiate the use of misoprostol as a medical treatment for incomplete abortion or integrate misoprostol into existing postabortion care services.

Click here to download the Toolkit in French. / La version française se trouve ici.

Click here to download the Toolkit in Portuguese. / Descarregar a versão em português aqui.