IMPROVING THE MEDICAL-CARE AND COUNSELING OF POSTABORTION PATIENTS INEGYPT

This report analyzes the results of an operations research project car ried out at two sites in Egypt to improve the medical care and counsel ing of postabortion patients. Preintervention and post intervention su rveys and observations were conducted. After the introduction of vacuu m aspiration under local anesthesia, the number of cases treated with dilatation and curettage under general anesthesia dropped from an aver age of 169 per month to 16. The majority of the remaining cases (an av erage of 119 per month) were treated with vacuum aspiration. Both prov iders' and women's knowledge about postabortion complications improved . Family planning information provided to postabortion patients increa sed as a result of the project's training program. The proportion of p atients intending to use a contraceptive method increased by 30 percen tage points due to the improved counseling. Future programs linking fa mily planning and postabortion medical services should be prepared to improve the medical care of existing emergency health services and to add counseling services.