Midwives and postabortion care: experiences, opinions, and attitudes among participants at the 25th Triennial Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives.

Midwifery practice may not include caring for women experiencing complications from unsafe abortion, despite the importance of this care for the health and lives of millions of women around the world. This article summarizes data collected from midwives from 41 countries who attended the 25th Triennial Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives in 1999, focusing on their experiences with, and attitudes toward, the provision of postabortion care. Barriers to provision of postabortion care and factors for changes in postabortion care-related policies were explored. Midwives from developing countries, where complications from unsafe abortion present a serious public health problem, were cognizant of the need to authorize, train, and equip midwives in postabortion care, including the use of uterine evacuation of incomplete abortion with manual vacuum aspiration. Changes in policy and practice are needed throughout the world so that women will have access to quality, compassionate postabortion care services regardless of where they live. Ensuring that midwives are able to provide such services will help to reduce abortion-related morbidity and mortality.