October 17, 2014
Venue : Avari Hotel, Karachi
In October 2014, MAP along with two of its partner organization Ipas and The National Committee for Maternal Health (NCMNH) organized first networking meeting of the doctors, midwives, and LHVs of Karachi on post abortion care (PAC) and contraception. Overall, 52 participants attended the meeting, among which 42 were LHVs and Midwives and 10 were doctors. The meeting aims to strengthen providers’ collaboration, networking, and referral systems in order to improve access to quality PAC and contraception. The meeting served to provide, the audience, updated information regarding administration of misoprostol for missed or incomplete abortion, including its side effects, complications, and instructions to be given to clients, and to provide updated information on post abortion contraceptive methods, including proper use, side effects, and follow-up. It also provided the audience an opportunity to discuss challenges in providing post abortion care, and to develop recommendations and an action plan to address the three highest priority challenges.The meeting provided the audience a platform to learn from each other, network and share resources, and strengthen referral linkages.
The health care providers attending the meeting identified the need for arranging such networking meetings regularly, at least once a year, where doctors and midwives/LHVs can come together on a common platform to share their concerns and to make efforts to resolve issues collaboratively. Moreover, the group strongly proposed that there must be a well-developed strong and systematic referral system comprising information about cluster wise referral points, contact numbers of hospitals, doctors, and midwives/LHVs working in a particular cluster, and proper documentation required for referrals. Two other important suggestions that came out of this meeting were the need for the capacity building of midlevel providers, through refresher sessions on PAC, contraception, and related counseling skills, and the need for attitude transformation where both doctors and midwives need to understand the importance of team work and respecting each other as professionals.
The participants of the meeting appreciated the efforts of MAP, Ipas, and NCMNH for organizing this networking meeting which provided them a great opportunity to raise up their voices and share their practice experiences, issues, and concerns related to PAC and contraception. Participants admired this opportunity of getting connected with other health care providers working in their areas, strengthening their professional relationships, clearing confusions and misconceptions, and creating a smooth line of communication between doctors and midwives/LHVs for continued support, facilitation, and assistance in providing quality PAC and contraception services to their clients.