Comments
The aspects relating to the inclusion of pregnancy termination and health services, in the cases allowed under the law, are spelled out in priority measure 42, which is also aimed at ensuring that primary health-care services have protocols to treat the complications arising from unsafe abortion. The matter of compassionate obstetric care is developed further in priority measure 45.
This measure complements priority measure 37 on access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, priority measure 40 on maternal mortality, priority measure 42 on access to safe abortion services, and priority measure 45 on the detection of problems during pregnancy, including those which may be foreseen before conception.
Possible lines of action
1. Implement a system of essential obstetric and newborn care (EONC) that includes: (i) clinical training in essential obstetric and newborn care; (ii) continuous improvement in the quality of care in health centres; (iii) care services that are compassionate and culturally appropriate to users’ needs; and (iv) community-based measures to boost demand for and access to health services. 2. Promote participatory processes for achieving skilled childbirth care that responds to the cultural diversity of the population. 3. Ensure that essential obstetric and newborn care is an integral component of primary health care. 4. Ensure that national legislation on sexual and reproductive health care includes measures for universal access to medically assisted procedures and techniques for becoming pregnant (assisted fertilization).
Related instruments, forums and mechanisms
Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 3 (“Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”), target 3.1 (“By 2030 reduce the global maternal mortality rate to less than 70 per 100,000 live births”).
