Saving the Lives of Women, Newborns, and Children: A Formative Study Examining Opportunities to Improve Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health Outcomes in Nigeria.

Despite economic growth in Nigeria, maternal and infant mortality rates remain among the highest in the world. Civil society organisations (CSOs) play a critical role in ensuring governmental accountability to fulfil commitments that improve health outcomes for women, newborns, and children. This formative study was undertaken to identify: a) policy advocacy priorities b) advocacy challenges, and, c) opportunities for strategic advocacy.

Exploring how residential mobility and migration influences teenage pregnancy in five rural communities in California: youth and adult perceptions.

Teenage birth rates among young people aged 15-19 years in California, USA, have declined from 47 births per 1000 in 2000 to 24 per 1000 in 2013. Nevertheless, the US counties with the highest teenage birth rates are predominantly rural and have a high proportion of Latinos/as. We conducted 42 interviews with key stakeholders and 12 focus groups with 107 young people in five rural communities to better understand local migration patterns and their influence on intermediate and proximate variables of pregnancy, such as interaction with role models and barriers to access contraception.

Knowledge of Abortion Laws and Services Among Low-Income Women in Three United States Cities.

Low-income women and women of color are disproportionately affected by unintended pregnancy. Lack of knowledge of abortion laws and services is one of several factors likely to hinder access to services, though little research has documented knowledge in this population. Survey with convenience sample of 1,262 women attending primary care or full-scope Ob/Gyn clinics serving low-income populations in three large cities and multivariable analyses with four knowledge outcomes.

A lifetime of violence: results from an exploratory survey of Mexican women with HIV.

Despite recognition that traditional Mexican gender norms can contribute to the twin epidemics of violence against women and HIV, there is an absence of published literature on experiences of violence among Mexican women with HIV. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 77 HIV-infected women from 21 of Mexico's 32 states to describe experiences of violence before and after HIV-diagnosis. We measured lifetime physical, sexual, and psychological violence; physical violence from a male partner in the previous 12 months; and physical and psychological violence related to disclosing an HIV diagnosis.

How often and under which circumstances do Mexican pharmacy vendors recommend misoprostol to induce an abortion?

Context: Misoprostol was used by women across Mexico to induce abortion even before 2007, when first-trimester abortion was legalized in Mexico City. Pharmacy vendors' misoprostol recommendation practices across subregions of Mexico after abortion legalization warrant examination.

Methods: Overall, 192 pharmacies in four regions of Mexico were randomly selected and visited by simulated clients presenting three scenarios (a young woman, an adult woman and a male partner).

Self-induction of abortion among women in the United States.

Recent media coverage and case reports have highlighted women's attempts to end their pregnancies by self-inducing abortions in the United States. This study explored women's motivations for attempting self-induction of abortion. We surveyed women in clinic waiting rooms in Boston, San Francisco, New York, and a city in Texas to identify women who had attempted self-induction.

Acceptability and use of the female condom and diaphragm among sex workers in Dominican Republic: results from a prospective study.

To assess the acceptability and use of the female condom and diaphragm among female sex workers in the Dominican Republic, 243 participants were followed for 5 months. Participants received female and male condoms and a diaphragm along with proper counseling at monthly visits. Seventy-six percent reported used of female condom at least once during the final month of the study, compared with 50% that used the diaphragm with male condoms and 9% that used the diaphragm alone.

Anti-trypanosomatid activity of ceragenins.

Cationic steroid antibiotics (CSAs), or ceragenins, are amphiphilic compounds consisting of a cholic acid backbone that is attached to several cationic amines. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that CSAs possess antiparasitic activities with minimal to no effects on mammalian cells, and thus could be used as potential therapeutic agents against pathogenic trypanosomatids. To investigate this notion, we synthesized CSAs and determined their trypanocidal and leishmanicidal activities in vitro.

Physicians' agreement with and willingness to provide abortion services in the case of pregnancy from rape in Mexico.

Background: In Mexico, abortion is not penalized when a woman gets pregnant as a result of rape, yet access to abortion services is limited. Understanding physicians' opinions about abortion is critical to creating strategies that will broaden women's access to services.

Study Design: Multivariate logistic regression was performed using data collected from a sample of 1206 physicians in Mexico.

Legal abortion in Peru: knowledge, attitudes and practices among a group of physician leaders.

Objective: We sought to examine knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding legal abortion among a group of Peruvian physicians.

Methods: A pre-conference survey was mailed to Peruvian physicians invited to a workshop on legal abortion. A post-conference survey was distributed following the event.

Challenges accessing legal abortion after rape in Mexico City.

Introduction: Although highly legally restricted, abortion is legal in cases of rape throughout Mexico. This study describes women's and physicians' experiences obtaining/providing legal abortion services in cases of rape in Mexico City.

Material And Methods: We interviewed five women who experienced a pregnancy as a result of rape.

[Introducing Emergency Contraception in the Mexican Family Planning Official Norm].

Objectives: Understand the process of including Emergency Contraception (EC) in the Mexican Family Planning Norm (NOM) and identify factors that influenced this achievement.

Materials And Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with eight prominent decision-makers of state and federal government institutions.

Results: The determining factor for the inclusion of EC in the Norm was the external review of scientific evidence, done by experts from the National Centre for Equity of Gender and Reproductive Health, proving that EC pills are not abortifacients.

Opinions of decision-makers on the liberalization of abortion laws in Mexico.

Objective: In the last decade, important advances were made in the struggle for reproductive rights in Mexico. The goal of this study was to discover the opinions of decision-makers about the grounds for legal abortion as well as to explore their perceptions about further liberalization of abortion laws countrywide.

Material And Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with eight prominent decision-makers working in governmental health, law and social institutions as well as representatives of political parties.

Pharmacy provision of medical abortifacients in a Latin American city.

Purpose: Access to legal abortion services is restricted in Latin America. Nonetheless, previous research suggest that women frequently use misoprostol to self-induce abortion. In many settings, women obtain the medication from a pharmacy.

Emergency contraception in Honduras: knowledge, attitudes, and practice among urban family planning clients.

Emergency contraception (EC) has the potential to improve women's reproductive health significantly. In Honduras, where nearly one-fourth of pregnancies are unplanned, the need for EC is substantial. To increase awareness of this option, nongovernmental organizations launched countrywide EC outreach activities in 2001-03.