Blended Tele-mentoring Support for Strengthening Antenatal Care by Private Health care Facilities: FOGSI VISTRIT INITIATIVE.

Introduction: The objective of the present initiative was to build capacity of health care providers in private sector along with standardisation of care during antenatal period for common antenatal problems of GDM and iron deficiency anaemia in private sector.

Methods: A pilot project for all levels of health care providers including doctors, nurses, counsellors and laboratory technicians of 34 private facilities in six districts of Jharkhand was planned. Training modules for GDM and anaemia based on government of India guidelines were developed.

Real-world utilization pattern of dydrogesterone in 7287 Indian women with obstetric and gynecological conditions: data from multicentric, retrospective study.

Objective: Despite the literature on dydrogesterone, studies on dydrogesterone utilization patterns are largely lacking in Indian patients.

Methods: This was a multi-center, retrospective, observational, cross-sectional, and descriptive study across 817 centers in India. Data of patients who received dydrogesterone in past and provided consent for future use of their medical record for research purpose was were retrieved and analyzed.

Voices from Health Care Providers: Assessing the Impact of the Indian Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 on the Practice of IVF in India.

The regulatory vacuum in the field of ART in India was filled when in December 2021, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 (ART Act) (https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2021/232025.

Indian Academy of Pediatrics Position Paper on Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development.

Early childhood development (ECD) refers to the physical, motor, socio-emotional, cognitive, and linguistic development of a young child. The 'Countdown to 2030' global distribution of 'children at risk of poor development' indicates the need for urgent action and investment in ECD. Nurturing care enhances ECD, even in the presence of adversities.

Advocating safe abortion: outcomes of a multi-country needs assessment on the potential role of national societies of obstetrics and gynecology.

In 2019 the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) embarked on an initiative that aims to strengthen the capacity of 10 national societies of obstetrics and gynecology (ObGyn) in advocacy for safe abortion. In 2018 needs assessments that entailed a desk study, interviews, and stakeholder workshops were conducted in Benin, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Panama, Peru, Uganda, and Zambia. The general aim of the needs assessments was to gain a deeper understanding of the contextual situation and identify the needs of ObGyn societies in relation to safe abortion advocacy.

Updated status of assisted reproductive technology activities in the Asia-Oceania region.

Aim: To report on a descriptive survey on the availability, regulation and funding issues of assisted reproductive technology (ART) activities in member countries of the Asia and Oceania Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (AOFOG).

Methods: A survey questionnaire was initially sent out to representatives of the 28 member national societies of AOFOG in 2015, and final verification and compilation of data were completed in November 2017.

Results: A response was received from 24 countries.

Achievements of the FIGO Initiative for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion and its Consequences in South-Southeast Asia.

Since 2008, the FIGO Initiative for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion and its Consequences has contributed to ensuring the substitution of sharp curettage by manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) and medical abortion in selected hospitals in participating countries of South-Southeast Asia. This initiative facilitated the registration of misoprostol in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the approval of mifepristone for "menstrual regulation" in Bangladesh. The Pakistan Nursing Council agreed to include MVA and medical abortion in the midwifery curriculum.

Feasibility of expanding the medication abortion provider base in India to include ayurvedic physicians and nurses.

Context: The availability of trained abortion providers is limited in India. Allowing ayurvedic physicians and nurses to perform medication abortions may improve women's access to the procedure, but it is unclear whether these clinicians can provide these services safely and effectively.

Methods: Allopathic physicians, ayurvedic physicians and nurses (10 of each), none of whom had experience in abortion provision, were trained to perform medication abortions.

Can nurses perform manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) as safely and effectively as physicians? Evidence from India.

Background: Although legal, access to safe abortion remains limited in India. Given positive experiences of task-shifting from other developing countries, there is a need to explore the feasibility of expanding the manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) provider base to include nurses in India.

Study Design: A prospective, two-sided equivalence study was undertaken in five facilities of a non-government organisation in Bihar and Jharkhand to explore whether efficacy and safety rates associated with MVA provided by newly trained nurses were equivalent to those provided by physicians.

Management of abnormal uterine bleeding in low- and high-resource settings: consideration of cultural issues.

In non industrialized countries the incidence of heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) appears to be similar to that of industrialized countries, although data is scanty. In low-resource settings, women with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) often delay seeking medical care because of cultural beliefs that a heavy red menstrual bleed is healthy. Efforts to modify cultural issues are being considered.

The need for investigations to elucidate causes and effects of abnormal uterine bleeding.

This article describes a modern perspective on the basic investigations for abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) in low-resource settings compared with a much more detailed approach for high-resource settings, bearing in mind issues of effectiveness and cost effectiveness. AUB includes any one or more of several symptoms, and it should be evaluated for the characteristics of the woman's specific bleeding pattern, her "complaint" and the presence of other symptoms (especially pain), the impact on several aspects of body functioning and lifestyle, and the underlying cause(s), especially cancer. Ideally, the evaluation is comprehensive, considering each of the potential etiological domains defined by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics PALM-COEIN system for the classification of causes.

Evaluation of a network of medical abortion providers in two districts of Maharashtra, India.

The objective of this study was to examine experiences and service delivery of private medical doctors participating in a professional network designed to improve knowledge and service quality of medical abortion (MA) procedures. A cross-sectional assessment of 87 Medical Abortion Provider Network (MAPnet) participants was conducted between December 2006 and January 2007 to describe participants' service delivery and network experiences. After participating in MAPnet, providers reported a statistically significant amount of more MA services (92%), national protocol adherence for timing of drug administration (93%) and drug dosage protocols (82%) when compared to their reports before MAPnet affiliation.