Creating linkages between incomplete abortion treatment and family planning services in Kenya

Postabortion care has received increasing emphasis as an important intervention to address part of the problem of unsafe abortion. Although a good deal of attention has been paid to improving emergency treatment of abortion complications, the other elements of postabortion care, including providing postabortion family planning services, have received less attention and are rarely found in health-care settings around the world. This report describes a study that was conducted in Kenya to test three different models of ways to provide postabortion family planning. The study shows that these new services are both feasible and acceptable to providers and patients, and also shows how effective they can be. Whereas only 7 percent of women received family planning counseling according to the baseline survey, this proportion increased to 68 percent in the postintervention period. In addition, 70 percent of women who decided to begin using contraceptives received a method, compared with only 3 percent at baseline. The provision of postabortion family planning counseling and methods on the gynecological ward by ward staff was found to be the preferred and most effective model.