ArticleBMJ global health2021
Understanding abortion-related complications in health facilities: results from WHO multicountry survey on abortion (MCS-A) across 11 sub-Saharan African countries.
Article in BMJ global health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Late request for safe abortion and its determinants among reproductive age women in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal for equity in health · 2025Pooled it
- Assessing Teenage Girls' Awareness of the Health Risks of Illegal Abortion: A Case Study Protocol in Lusikisiki.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- The Global Maternal and Newborn Health Platform: study protocol for an observational, multi-country study on the quality of intrapartum and early postnatal care at health facilities.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- Severity and management of postabortion complications in Kenya: results from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- The design and use of ACASI to elicit sexual behaviour in the PHASE survey - the Gambian experience.Reproductive health · 2026Article
- Article
- Satisfaction and experience of care among women with abortion-related complications from Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Understanding the Ethiopian policy landscape on abortion services using a health policy triangle framework.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Identifying women with poor experience of post-abortion care: a cross-sectional study in two African hospitals in humanitarian settings.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with unsafe abortion among married women admitted to the gynecology ward at Lira regional referral hospital in Lira City Northern Uganda.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Abortion-related morbidity and mortality in Sierra Leone: results from a 2021 cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- [Acute Generalised Peritonitis Due To Post-Abortal Uterine Perforation: A Case Report From Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital].Le Mali medical · 2025Article
- Women's experiences and outcomes of abortion care in sub-Saharan countries: A mixed methods systematic review protocol.PloS one · 2025Article
- Factors affecting contraceptive use among women seeking induced abortion in Hubei, China: a multicenter cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Abortion-related complications in Brazil: results from the World Health Organization Multi-country Survey on Abortion (MCS-A).Cadernos de saude publica · 2025Article
- Article
- Assessing post-abortion care using the WHO quality of care framework for maternal and newborn health: a cross-sectional study in two African hospitals in humanitarian settings.Reproductive health · 2024Article
- Postabortion care service availability, readiness, and access in Burkina Faso: results from linked female-facility cross-sectional data.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Article
- High severity of abortion complications in fragile and conflict-affected settings: a cross-sectional study in two referral hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa (AMoCo study).BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 12 institutions in 12 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionComplications due to unsafe abortions are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in many sub-Saharan African countries. We aimed to characterise abortion-related complication severity, describe their management, and to report women's experience of abortion care in Africa.
methodsA cross-sectional study was implemented in 210 health facilities across 11 sub-Saharan African countries. Data were collected on women's characteristics, clinical information and women's experience of abortion care (using the audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) system). Severity of abortion complications were organised in five hierarchical mutually exclusive categories based on indicators present at assessment. Descriptive bivariate analysis was performed for women's characteristics, management of complications and reported experiences of abortion care by severity. Generalised linear estimation models were used to assess the association between women's characteristics and severity of complications.
resultsThere were 13 657 women who had an abortion-related complication: 323 (2.4%) women were classified with severe maternal outcomes, 957 (7.0%) had potentially life-threatening complications, 7953 (58.2%) had moderate complications and 4424 (32.4%) women had mild complications. Women who were single, multiparous, presenting ≥13 weeks of gestational age and where expulsion of products of conception occurred prior to arrival to facility were more likely to experience severe complications. For management, the commonly used mechanical methods of uterine evacuation were manual vacuum aspiration (76.9%), followed by dilation and curettage (D&C) (20.1%). Most frequently used uterotonics were oxytocin (50∙9%) and misoprostol (22.7%). Via ACASI, 602 (19.5%) women reported having an induced abortion. Of those, misoprostol was the most commonly reported method (54.3%).
conclusionThere is a critical need to increase access to and quality of evidence-based safe abortion, postabortion care and to improve understanding around women's experiences of abortion care.
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