Youth Friendly Postabortion Care

Paying special attention to the barriers and stigma that youth face, Pathfinder improved the capacity of providers to deliver youth-friendly postabortion care.

Board funding supported an innovative one-year Youth-Friendly Post-Abortion Care (YF PAC) program in eight sub-Saharan African countries to address unsafe abortion among adolescent women and incorporate YF PAC into Pathfinder's ongoing reproductive health programs in Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. Based on the PAC Consortium's technical guidance on youth-friendly PAC, Pathfinder increased access to post-abortion care services that are responsive to adolescent needs. After baseline assessments were conducted using the Pathfinder-developed YF PAC Assessment Tool, minor refurbishments were undertaken at facilities to increase privacy and ensure separate areas for procedures and counseling. Service providers were trained in manual vacuum aspiration, youth-friendly approaches, post-abortion family planning, counseling, gender-based violence, and referrals for other needs. The number of adolescent PAC clients who adopted a contraceptive method to prevent future unintended pregnancies increased. Through advocacy efforts, community support increased for services and activities that prevent unwanted pregnancy, awareness was raised on the issue of unsafe abortion among adolescent women, and stigma around abortion was addressed.