Rationale and design of a complex intervention measuring the impact and processes of social accountability applied to contraceptive programming: CaPSAI Project.

: There are numerous barriers leading to a high unmet need for family planning and contraceptives (FP/C).  These include limited knowledge and information, poor access to quality services, structural inefficiencies in service provision and inadequately trained and supervised health professionals. Recently, social accountability programs have shown promising results in addressing barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services.

Room temperature stable carbetocin for the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage during the third stage of labour in women delivering vaginally: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal mortality in low-income countries and contributes to nearly a quarter of maternal deaths globally. The current available interventions for prevention of postpartum haemorrhage, oxytocin and carbetocin, are limited by their need for refrigeration to maintain potency, as the ability to maintain a cold chain across the drug distribution and storage network is inconsistent, thus restricting their use in countries with the highest burden of maternal mortality. We describe a randomized, double-blind non-inferiority trial comparing a newly developed room temperature stable formulation of carbetocin to the standard intervention (oxytocin) for the prevention of PPH after vaginal birth.

A prospective, open-label, single arm, multicentre study to evaluate efficacy, safety and acceptability of pericoital oral contraception using levonorgestrel 1.5 mg.

Study Question: Will the use of levonorgestrel (LNG) 1.5 mg taken at each day of coitus by women who have relatively infrequent sex be an efficacious, safe and acceptable contraceptive method?

Summary Answer: Typical use of LNG 1.5 mg taken pericoitally, before or within 24 h of sexual intercourse, provides contraceptive efficacy of up to 11.

Complications of first-trimester abortion by vacuum aspiration after cervical preparation with and without misoprostol: a multicentre randomised trial.

Background: Little information is available about the incidence of complications from vacuum aspiration for first-trimester abortion after cervical preparation with prostaglandin analogues. We compared incidence of complications from vacuum aspiration in women who had had cervical preparation with misoprostol and those who had not.

Methods: We did a randomised parallel-group trial at 14 centres in nine countries between Oct 22, 2002, and Sept 24, 2005.

Comparison of vaginal and sublingual misoprostol for second trimester abortion: randomized controlled equivalence trial.

Background: To identify an effective misoprostol-only regimen for the termination of second trimester pregnancy, we compared sublingual and vaginal administration of multiple doses of misoprostol in a randomized, placebo-controlled equivalence trial.

Methods: Six hundred and eighty-one healthy pregnant women requesting medical abortion at 13-20 weeks' gestation were randomly assigned within 11 gynaecological centres in seven countries into two treatment groups: 400 microg of misoprostol administered either sublingually or vaginally every 3 h up to five doses, followed by sublingual administration of 400 microg misoprostol every 3 h up to five doses if abortion had not occurred at 24 h after the start of treatment. We chose 10% as the margin of equivalence.

Efficacy of two intervals and two routes of administration of misoprostol for termination of early pregnancy: a randomised controlled equivalence trial.

Background: The most effective route and best interval between several doses of misoprostol to induce abortion have not been defined. Our aim was to assess the effects of the interval between multiple doses of misoprostol and the route of administration to terminate pregnancy.

Methods: 2066 healthy pregnant women requesting medical abortion with 63 days or less of gestation were randomly assigned within 11 gynaecological centres in six countries to the four treatment groups (three doses of 0.