Introduction of postpartum and post abortion family planning into three hospitals in South Sudan

Abstract

Introduction: Postpartum/post abortion family planning is a service provided for women who have given birth or had a spontaneous abortion. Due to low uptake of contraception in South Sudan, increasing contraceptive use is important to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.
Objective: To introduce postpartum/post abortion family planning to women who have delivered or undergone spontaneous abortion at Juba  Teaching Hospital, Tambura Hospital, and Yei Hospital.
Method: This was a project initiated by Lund University in South Sudan as a part of a capacity building international training programme in sexual and reproductive health and rights. The aim was to introduce the use of postpartum/post abortion family planning and train health care providers.
Results: From the three hospitals, 1373 women who had delivered were counselled and 404 accepted postpartum contraceptives. Of 285 women who had had a spontaneous abortion and were counselled, 22 accepted contraceptives. During the project, 15 health providers were trained to promote and champion the use of postpartum and post abortion family planning provision.
Conclusion: This study shows that training of health care staff to advocate and promote postpartum/post abortion contraception is effective and  can contribute to family planning services.

Keywords: postpartum, post abortion, family planning, contraceptives, South Sudan