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Biomedical subjects

L Brown

Publications and source records attributed to L Brown.

474 records · Page 27Linked to original sources

Quality of care in family planning services in Morocco.

This study was conducted to heighten awareness of quality of care as a programmatic issue in the Moroccan governmental family planning program and to test modified Situation Analysis instruments for measuring quality of care. Data were collected from 50 service-delivery points in five provinces to measure six elements of quality in accordance with the Bruce/Jain framework. A procedure for calculating quality-indicator scores is presented. Although facilities varied by province and within provinces, most had the equipment and supplies needed to deliver services; service personnel were trained and regularly supervised; the service-delivery points scored well on mechanisms to ensure continuity of use. Notable shortcomings included a dearth of materials for counseling and a widespread unavailability of the Ovrette pill. This study raises issues regarding the complexity of measuring quality, the ownership of results, and the appropriateness of a centralized study of quality in a decentralized program.

Adult↗

Effects of clarification of support expectations in prenatal couples.

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model of confirmation of expectations for mutual support after childbirth and to evaluate an intervention given in prenatal classes during which prospective parents clarified their expectations. Results provided support for the proposed model in that parents with greater confirmation of expectations were found to have more positive relationship satisfaction, emotional affect, and parenting attitudes. Differences in men and women emerged that demonstrated that confirmation of support expectations was more important to women, while the level of support actually received was more important to men. The prenatal class intervention did not significantly affect parent outcomes.

Adult↗

The clandestine epidemic: the practice of unsafe abortion in Latin America.

In Latin America, induced abortion is the fourth most commonly used method of fertility regulation. Estimates of the number of induced abortions performed each year in Latin America range from 2.7 to 7.4 million, or from 10 to 27 percent of all abortions performed in the developing world. Because of restrictive laws, nearly all of these abortions, except for those performed in Barbados, Belize, and Cuba, are clandestine and unsafe, and their sequelae are the principal cause of death among women of reproductive age. One of every three to five unsafe abortions leads to hospitalization, resulting in inordinate consumption of scarce and costly health-system resources. Increased contraceptive prevalence and restrictive abortion laws have not decreased clandestine practices. This article addresses how the epidemic of unsafe abortion might be challenged. Recommendations include providing safer outpatient treatment and strengthening family planning programs to improve women's contraceptive use and their access to information and to safe pregnancy termination procedures. In addition, existing laws and policies governing legal abortion can be applied to their fullest extent, indications for legal abortion can be more broadly interpreted, and legal constraints on abortion practices can be officially relaxed.

Abortion, Illegal↗