Counts of women presenting to a health facility (private office, health center, or hospital) for emergency treatment of abortion-related complications during a one-year period.  If possible, evaluators should disaggregate clients by those 25 years and older and youth (≤ 24).

Data Source(s):

Special studies or service statistics from health facilities providing triage, stabilization, treatment, and/or referral.

Purpose:

Contraceptive counseling – and provision – are critical elements of postabortion care (PAC).  This is a useful indicator for monitoring if this element of PAC is being provided and where gaps in quality of care may be.  Numbers of encounters for abortion complications can also provide denominators for other useful indicators, such as the percentage of PAC patients under the age of 20 or the percentage of PAC patients presenting at 12 or fewer weeks of pregnancy. In some individual facilities, such as private offices, health huts, health posts, and health centers, however, the number of encounters for abortion complications may be small so the calculation of percentages may be inappropriate.

Issue(s):

This indicator includes both complications due to spontaneous abortion and induced abortions. Service providers often times assume a woman’s future reproductive intentions and her desire for family planning based on whether the abortion was spontaneous or induced abortion.  However, at the time of PAC treatment, counseling should be offered to each woman to help her clarify her reproductive intentions.  Even a woman who has had a spontaneous abortion and wants to become pregnant again immediately, may benefit from delaying a subsequent pregnancy.