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Postabortion Care (PAC)

Bolivian woman mobilizing community support for postabortion care

Postabortion care (PAC) reduces maternal mortality and morbidity and addresses unmet need for family planning, a root cause of induced abortion.

Postabortion care, one of the only integrated service delivery models in international public health, provides an integrated package of maternal and child health (MCH) and family planning (FP) services for women having complications from a miscarriage, incomplete abortion, or an induced abortion.

USAID's PAC model has three components: 

  • Emergency treatment of complications
  • Family planning counseling and services
  • Community empowerment through community awareness and mobilization

This course provides an overview of postabortion care including its definition, objectives, justification, programming best practices, indicators for monitoring and evaluation, and strong evidence base.

Objective

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

  • Describe postabortion care (PAC) and why it is needed
  • Cite the three components of the USAID PAC model
  • Describe actions to design, implement, and evaluate PAC programs
  • Recall evidence-based approaches to strengthen postabortion family planning
  • Access additional assistance and resource materials

Credits

We greatly appreciate the invaluable contributions of the following individuals in developing and reviewing this course: Ellen Starbird, Beverly Johnston, Ricky Lu, Catherine McKaig, Lois Schaefer, John Eyres, Doug Laube, Giuliana Morales, Margaret D'Adamo, and the USAID/PRH staff who pre-tested the course and provided feedback.