Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F Donnay

Publications and source records attributed to F Donnay.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Eliminating obstetric fistula: progress in partnerships.

Obstetric fistula persists in the developing world due to poor access to obstetric care. It has been overlooked in the past, as the women suffering from fistula often live on the fringe of society due to their poverty and the stigma surrounding the condition. A global Campaign to End Fistula is bringing a variety of actors together to raise awareness and support to prevent fistula and provide comprehensive treatment for women living with fistula. This paper describes the strategies and progress of the campaign since it began in 2003.

Africa↗
PubMed2006

Can the process indicators for emergency obstetric care assess the progress of maternal mortality reduction programs? An examination of UNFPA Projects 2000-2004.

BACKGROUND: In view of the disappointing progress made in the last 20 years in reducing maternal mortality in low-income countries and before going to scale in implementing the new evidence-based strategies, it is crucial to review and assess the progress made in pilot countries where maternal mortality reduction programs focused on emergency obstetric care. OBJECTIVE: To review the process indicators recommended for monitoring emergency obstetric care and their application in field situations, examining the conditions under which they can be used to assess the progress of maternal mortality reduction programs. METHODS: Five of the six UN recommended process indicators were monitored annually for 5 years in selected districts of Morocco, Mozambique, India and Nicaragua. Trends are presented and discussed. RESULTS: With specific variations due to different local situations in the four countries and in spite of variations in quality of data collection, all indicators showed a consistent positive trend, in response to the inputs of the programs. CONCLUSIONS: The UN process indicators for emergency obstetric care should continue to be promoted, but with two important conditions: (1) data collection is carefully checked for quality and coverage; (2) efforts are made to match process and outcome indicators (maternal and perinatal mortality, incidence of complications).

Emergency Medical Services↗
PubMed2000

Maternal survival in developing countries: what has been done, what can be achieved in the next decade.

Every year, approximately 600000 women die of pregnancy-related causes - 98% of these deaths occur in developing countries. For every woman who dies, at least 30 suffer injuries and often, permanent disability. The challenge today is to re-orient programmes on priority interventions, and to mobilize sufficient resources for their implementation. More resources have been put into antenatal care than into delivery care and the management of complications of births and unsafe abortions. This article describes the effective strategies for reducing maternal death, their policy requirements and programmatic implications, and provides examples of successful developing country programmes. Priority interventions include: (1) improving availability and use of essential obstetric care for the management of complications; (2) strengthening family planning services; (3) ensuring skilled attendance at birth; (4) promoting women-friendly health services; (5) increasing district-level planning with community participation; and (6) monitoring process with process indicators. Finally, the promotion of safe motherhood as a right is of crucial importance. Needed now is political commitment as well as coordinated action for the implementation of large-scale programmes in low-income countries.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Reproductive health in Romania: reversing the Ceausescu legacy.

As a result of the restrictive reproductive health policies enforced under the 25-year Ceausescu dictatorship, Romania ended the 1980s with the highest recorded maternal mortality of any country in Europe--159 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1989. An estimated 87 percent of these maternal deaths were caused by illegal and unsafe abortion. Under the Ceausescu regime, all contraceptive methods were forbidden and induced abortion was available only for women who met extremely narrow criteria. Immediately after the December 1989 revolution that overthrew Ceausescu, the new government removed restrictions on contraceptive use and legalized abortion. This legislative change has had beneficial effects on women's health, seen in the drop in maternal mortality in 1990 to 83 deaths per 100,000 live births--almost half the ratio in 1989. In addition, changes instituted since the revolution have led to the improved availability of reproductive health services and to the creation of new educational and training opportunities related to reproductive health services and to the creation of new educational and training opportunities related to reproductive health. The newly created contraceptive and abortion services have presented health system managers and policymakers with many challenges as they work to expand the availability of high-quality, comprehensive reproductive health care in a setting of economic hardship, political unrest, insufficient infrastructure, and outdated medical knowledge and practice.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Safe abortions in an illegal context: perceptions from service providers in Belgium.

Until April 1990 abortion was illegal in Belgium all circumstances. However, a small group of health professionals had long provided high-quality abortion services in outpatient facilities and in hospitals. This study is a qualitative analysis of perceptions among providers of safe abortion in Belgium before and after it was made legal there. The providers' personal, psychological, and ethical reactions to abortion are investigated, as well as their opinions on how their activities should be organized in order to minimize problems. Standardized questionnaires with closed and open questions were used; 143 questionnaires were completed. Emotional reactions were reported as being the most difficult aspects of practicing abortion. The experience of Belgian practitioners is of value for health professionals working in a legally restricted setting who are willing to assume some judicial risks to facilitate legal change while demonstrating the public health utility of low-cost, safe abortion.

Abortion Applicants↗