PAHO | Bigg Rec

New Evidence Available

Updated Recommendation

A new evidence synthesis was published:2022, Abortion care guideline

View latest version (2022)

Bibliographic Info

GuidelineHealth worker roles in providing safe abortion care and post-abortion contraception

Year of Publication2015

Issuing InstitutionWorld Health Organization

See guideline details• Guideline fulltext

Recommendation

Status

Retired

Context specific recommendation

Only in specific contexts

Women’s role in managing the process of medical abortion. Self-assessing completeness of the abortion process using pregnancy tests and checklists: Recommended in specific circumstances

Notes and Remarks

1.We recommend this option in circumstances where both mifepristone and misoprostol are being used and where women have a source of accurate information and access to a healthcare provider should they need or want it at any stage of the process.
2.A follow-up visit after MA using mifepristone–misoprostol is not mandatory. The efficacy of MA is lower when misoprostol alone is used; hence the self-assessment of completeness when misoprostol alone is used requires further research.
3.Available evidence for managing the medications and process without direct supervision of the provider is for pregnancy durations of nine weeks (63 days) or less.
4.Self-management approaches reflect an active extension of health systems and health care. These recommendations are NOT an endorsement of clandestine self-use by women without access to information or a trained health-care provider/health-care facility as a backup. All women should have access to health services should they want or need it.
5.Mechanisms to ensure access and linkages to post-abortion contraception services need to be established.