counselling and services according to the woman’s needs · Refer the woman as appropriate for any further treatment that may be required and that is beyond the scope of midwifery practice PS2008_011 V2014 2 Laan van Meerdervoort 70, 2517AN, The Hague, The Netherlands tel: +31 70 3060 520 www.internationalmidwives.org · Provide the woman (and where appropriate her family) with education concerning her future health, including contraception and planning for future pregnancy · Recognise the emotional, psychological and social support which may be needed by the woman and respond appropriately. The education of midwives should prepare them for their role in providing abortion-related services that ensure safety and wellbeing for the woman. Recommendations Member Associations are urged to seek to influence the education of midwives to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to provide abortion-related services in line with the ICM Essential Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice (2010). Related ICM Documents ICM. 2007. Resolution agreed at ICM/ Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA) African midwives regional meeting, November 2007. ICM. 2010. Core Document. Essential Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice. Amended 2013. Other Relevant Documents ICPD.1994. Report of the International Conference on Population and Development. Cairo, Egypt. ICPD+5.1999. Implementing the Recommendations of the International Conference on Population and Development. ICPD 5-year Review and Appraisal.. Independent Expert Review Group. 2012. Every woman, every child: From commitments to action: The first report of the independent Expert Review Group (iERG) on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. Ki-moon, B. 2010. Global strategy for women’s and children’s health. Geneva, Switzerland: Partnership for Maternal Health, Newborn, and Child Health. Maputo Declaration.2004. 4th Summit Of ACP Heads of State and Government. Maputo, Mozambique. Maputo Declaration: Together Shaping Our Future. PMNCH. 2011. Essential interventions, commodities and guidelines for reproductive, PS2008_011 V2014 3 Laan van Meerdervoort 70, 2517AN, The Hague, The Netherlands tel: +31 70 3060 520 www.internationalmidwives.org maternal, newborn and child health: A global review of the key interventions related to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. Geneva, Switzerland: Partnership for Maternal Health, Newborn, and Child Health. WHO. 2003 Reproductive Health Department. Safe abortion: Technical and policy guidance for health systems. Geneva, Switzerland. World Health Organisation WHO. 2011. Unsafe abortion: Global and regional estimates of the incidence of unsafe abortion and associated mortality in 2008 (6th ed.). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. WHO. 2012. Safe abortion: Technical and policy guidance for health systems (2nd ed.). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. WHO. 2014. Clinical practice handbook for Safe abortion. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. Adopted at Glasgow Council meeting, 2008 Reviewed and adopted at Prague Council meeting, 2014 Due for next review 2020 i As defined by WHO 2014 (Ganatra, B. “From Concept to Measurement: Operationalizing WHO’s Def This volume speaks to the global burden of unsafe abortion. The cost is largely borne by those who are most vulnerable and least able to access safe services: millions of poor women, young women, rural women and their families bear the lasting consequences of unsafe abortion. It is a cost that gets swept up in the debate about abortion; a debate that sometimes misses the day-to-day impact unsafe abortion has on women’s lives. This is a story of desperation. This is a story of women’s use of abortion under the most horrific circumstances. This is a story of the burdens on medical systems that can barely meet the most basic of needs, much less provide care for women suffering from entirely preventable injuries. This book may be read in different ways. For some, the distinction between unsafe and safe abortions is meaningless because for them abortion is unacceptable regardless of safety. For others, it will re-dedicate their commitment to improving the quality of health care for women. It will rekindle their commitment to the provision of family planning services to reduce unwanted pregnancies and their commitment to replacing unsafe abortion with safe abortion services. But all must confront the lengths to which women will go and the risks they face when a pregnancy is unintended. Women bear those costs, their families bear those costs, and ultimately society bears those costs. Tales of unsafe abortion lead to several observations, observations that have been important for me in my own career. Unsafe abortion is widespread; it does not know national boundaries. Research on abortion and contraception must therefore be global. We all have an obligation not only to improve our understanding of unsafe abortion and its impact on women, but to share it widely. Advances in research that take place in resource-rich countries must be available to others who can less well afford to invest in such research. The challenge is global even when the