Postabortion Care Facility Readiness in Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire

Suzanne Bell, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Funmilola OlaOlorun, University of Ibadan
Andoh Kouakou Hyacinthe, Programme National de Santé de la Mère et de l'Enfant
Mridula Shankar, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Elizabeth F. Omoluabi, Akena Plus Heath Trust
Georges Guiella, Université de Ouagadougou
Saifuddin Ahmed, Johns Hopkins University
Caroline Moreau, INSERM/INED and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

Unsafe abortion causes between 8% and 15% of maternal deaths worldwide. Postabortion care (PAC) is an essential component of emergency obstetric care to prevent unsafe abortion-related morbidity and mortality, however there is little information regarding the quality of PAC in low-resource settings. Using recently collected facility data from Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, we aim to assess individual postabortion care signal functions and overall service readiness in these contexts, where no previous estimates exist. Preliminary analyses reveal low levels of PAC and safe abortion service availability, with provision primarily at tertiary and secondary facilities. Excluding provision of safe abortion for legal indications, only 37.3% of Nigerian facilities and 51.2% of Cote d’Ivoirian facilities have all basic PAC signal functions. Additional analyses of readiness and social inequities in access to care are forthcoming. Findings will provide actionable data to stakeholders regarding opportunities for improvement.