CONTEXT In 2005, Ethiopia’s parliament amended the penal code to expand the circumstances in which abortion is legal. Although the country has expanded access to abortion and postabortion care, the last estimates of abortion incidence date from 2008. METHODS Data were collected in 2014 from a nationally representative sample of 822 facilities that provide abortion or postabortion care, and from 82 key informants knowledgeable about abortion services in Ethiopia. The Abortion Incidence Complications Methodology and the Prospective Morbidity Methodology were used to estimate the incidence of abortion in Ethiopia and assess trends since 2008. RESULTS An estimated 620,300 induced abortions were performed in Ethiopia in 2014. The annual abortion rate was 28 per 1,000 women aged 15–49, an increase from 22 per 1,000 in 2008, and was highest in urban regions (Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Harari). Between 2008 and 2014, the proportion of abortions occurring in facilities rose from 27% to 53%, and the number of such abortions increased substantially; nonetheless, an estimated 294,100 abortions occurred outside of health facilities in 2014. The number of women receiving treatment for complications from induced abortion nearly doubled between 2008 and 2014, from 52,600 to 103,600. Thirty-eight percent of pregnancies were unintended in 2014, a slight decline from 42% in 2008. CONCLUSIONS Although the increases in the number of women obtaining legal abortions and postabortion care are consistent with improvements in women’s access to health care, a substantial number of abortions continue to occur outside of health facilities, a reality that must be addressed.

IntroductionPatients perception about service quality shapes their confidence with regard to use of the available health care facility. This study is aimed to assess the client`s satisfaction in a maternal health care setting.MethodsThis is an institution based cross sectional descriptive study. A total of 423 postpartum women were interviewed. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 statistical package.ResultsThe proportion of mothers who are completely satisfied with health care ranges between 2.4 to 21%. Pain control was the poorest source of satisfaction with 82% reporting dissatisfaction. Provider's communication with clients yielded complete satisfaction rates ranging between 0.7 to 26%. Inadequate information about the drug prescribed and explanation of procedures to be done to the client were found to be major causes of dissatisfaction. The complete satisfaction rate with environmental factor of the hospital was between 3.3 to 40.2%. Age of the client, educational status, income of the client and client's address away from Addis Ababa were found to be the predictors of client satisfaction. Provider's attitude and communication, as well as longer duration of stay in the ward were independent predictors of client satisfaction.ConclusionPain management, client privacy and client provider communication need to be addressed to ensure the satisfaction of maternity clients. The clients need to be involved in the management of their own health problems.

The study showed little progress in the proportion of all births delivered by cesarean and a high rate of cesarean among women attended in the private sector--indicating a need to monitor the appropriateness of obstetric care in all sectors and to increase access in rural areas. Clinical management protocols for obstetric and newborn care are needed, and audits of cesareans should be performed at all institutions, especially in the private sector. The importance of improving record keeping is crucial for informed local decision-making.

BackgroundVaginal delivery after previous one cesarean section for a non recurring indication has been described by several authors as safe and having a success rate of 60–80%. Hence many centers are offering VBAC for candidates leaving the century old dictum of once cesarean always cesarean. But predicting success of VBAC after trial of labor (TOL) is still a difficult task due to the lack of a validated prediction tool. Studies on predictors of success are few and most of them conducted in developed countries and difficult to generalize. Therefore assessing factors associated with successful VBAC is very important to for counseling mothers while offering VBAC. The aim of this study was to assess factors associated with successful VBAC in three teaching Hospitals in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.MethodsA case control study was conducted to compare the factors associated with successful VBAC in teaching hospitals in Addis Ababa in one year period. The cases were those successfully delivered vaginally and the controls were those with failed VBAC and delivered by caesarean section. The sample size of the cases was 101vaginal deliveries and the controls were 103 failed VBAC patients which made the case to control ratio of 1:1.ResultIn this study independent factors determining successful VBAC were, history of successful VBAC in the past, rupture of membrane at admission, and cervical dilatation of more than 3cm at admission. Presence of meconium, malposition and history of stillbirth were associated with failed VBAC. Factors like maternal age, past caesarean indications, inter delivery interval, and birth weight were not found to be significant determinants of success. The most common reason for repeat cesarean section for after trial of labor was labour dysfunction because of absence of a policy for augmentation on a scarred uterus in these hospitals.ConclusionIt is possible to prepare a decision tool on the success of VBAC by taking important past and present obstetric and reproductive performance history as predictor.

Background. Almost 500,000 women are newly diagnosed with cervical cancer (CC) every year, the majority from developing countries. There is little information on the survival of these patients. Our primary objective was to evaluate consecutive CC patients presenting over 4 years at the only radiotherapy center in Ethiopia. Methods. All patients with CC from September 2008 to September 2012 who received radiotherapy and/or surgery were included (without brachytherapy). Vital status was obtained through telephone contact or patient cards. Results. Of 2,300 CC patients, 1,059 patients with standardized treatment were included. At the end of the study, 249 patients had died; surviving patients had a median follow‐up of 16.5 months; the 10% and 90% percentiles were 3.0 and 32.7 months, respectively. Mean age was 49 years (21–91 years). The majority of patients presented with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIb–IIIa (46.7%). Because of progression during the waiting time (median 3.8 months), this proportion declined to 19.3% at the beginning of radiotherapy. The 1‐ and 2‐year overall survival probabilities were 90.4% and 73.6%. If assuming a worst‐case scenario (i.e., if all patients not available for follow‐up after 6 months had died), the 2‐year survival probability would be 45.4%. Conclusion. This study gives a thorough 4‐year overview of treated patients with CC in Ethiopia. Given the limited treatment availability, a relatively high proportion of patients survived 2 years. More prevention and early detection at all levels of the health care system are needed. Increasing the capacity for external‐beam radiation as well as options for brachytherapy would facilitate treatment with curative intention.