What is the quality of the maternal near-miss case reviews in WHO European Region? Cross-sectional study in Armenia, Georgia, Latvia, Republic of Moldova and Uzbekistan.

Objectives: The maternal near-miss case review (NMCR) cycle is a type of clinical audit aiming at improving quality of maternal healthcare by discussing near-miss cases. In several countries this approach has been introduced and supported by WHO and partners since 2004, but information on the quality of its implementation is missing. This study aimed at evaluating the quality of the NMCR implementation in selected countries within WHO European Region.

Simplified medical abortion screening: a demonstration project.

Objectives: The objectives were to evaluate the safety and acceptability of outpatient medical abortion in selected women without a pretreatment ultrasound or pelvic examination.

Study Design: We conducted a prospective case-series study to estimate the incidence of serious adverse events (death, life-threatening event, hospitalization, transfusion or any other medical problem that we judged to be significant), surgical completion of the abortion and satisfaction in women provided with medical abortion without a pretreatment ultrasound or pelvic examination. We enrolled 406 women requesting medical abortion in Moldova, Mexico and the United States.

Prevention of unsafe abortion in countries of Central Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Despite permissive laws and a well-developed network of facilities, the incidence of unsafe abortion and the resulting maternal mortality is unacceptably high in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, with one-quarter of all maternal deaths reported to occur as a consequence of abortion. Among the reasons that oblige women to submit themselves to risky procedures are new legislative barriers to accessing pregnancy termination, the unequal distribution of abortion services and healthcare providers, the increased costs of abortion services or unofficial payments, coupled with an increase in the number of impoverished and disadvantaged individuals. The quality of abortion services remains very poor.

International organizations and NGOs: an example of international collaboration to improve women's health by preventing unsafe abortion.

International collaboration with organizations and agencies is a basic requirement for the success of the FIGO Initiative for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion and its Consequences. Many activities being carried out by the organizations form a part of the plans of action of all countries participating in the Initiative. It was, therefore, not difficult to obtain their collaboration in implementing the plans of action.

Improving maternal and perinatal health care in the Central Asian republics.

Objective: To describe our experience of a complex training intervention to introduce effective perinatal care, evidence-based medicine, national confidential enquiries into maternal deaths, and facility-based near-miss case reviews in the Central Asian Republics.

Methods: We describe our experiences from training sessions and report on findings from data extraction from patient records, patient interviews, discussions with healthcare staff, and observation of health care during our follow-up visits.

Results: Many outdated practices in perinatal care have been abandoned, and several recommended approaches have been adopted in pilot facilities.