{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,11]],"date-time":"2026-02-11T01:08:16Z","timestamp":1770772096639,"version":"3.50.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,19]],"date-time":"2022-05-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1652918400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"THRiVE-2","award":["# DEL-15-011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["# DEL-15-011"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Women living in low- and middle-income countries still have limited access to quality second trimester post abortion care. We aim to explore health care providers\u2019 experiences of and perceptions towards the use of misoprostol for management of second trimester incomplete abortion.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This qualitative study used the phenomenology approach. We conducted 48 in-depth interviews for doctors and midwives at 14 public health facilities in central Uganda using a flexible interview guide. We used inductive content analysis and made code frequencies based on health care provider cadre, and health facility level and then abstracted themes from categories.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Well trained midwives were perceived as competent to manage second trimester post abortion care stable patients, however doctor\u2019s supervision in case of complications was considered important. Sometimes, midwives were seen as offering better care than doctors given their stronger presence in the facilities. Misoprostol received unanimous support and viewed as: safe, effective, cheap, convenient, readily available, maintained patient privacy, and saved resources. Challenges faced included: side effects, prolonged hospital stay, treatment failure, inclination to surgical evacuation, heavy work load, inadequate space, lack of medical commodities, frequent staff rotations which affects the quality of patient care. To address these challenges, respondents coped by: giving patients psychological support, analgesics, close patient monitoring, staff mentorship, commitment to work, team work and patient involvement in care.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Misoprostol is perceived as an ideal uterine evacuation method for second trimester post abortion care of uncomplicated patients and trained midwives are considered competent managing these patients in a health facility setting with a back-up of a doctor. Health care providers require institutional and policy environment support for improved service delivery.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0268812","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,19]],"date-time":"2022-05-19T17:51:09Z","timestamp":1652982669000},"page":"e0268812","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Exploring health care providers\u2019 experiences of and perceptions towards the use of misoprostol for management of second trimester incomplete abortion in Central Uganda"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7904-5655","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Susan","family":"Atuhairwe","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6516-1444","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kristina","family":"Gemzell-Danielsson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lynn","family":"Atuyambe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Josaphat","family":"Byamugisha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nazarius Mbona","family":"Tumwesigye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Claudia","family":"Hanson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,19]]},"reference":[{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0268812.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e323","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(14)70227-X","article-title":"Global causes of maternal death: a WHO systematic analysis","volume":"2","author":"L Say","year":"2014","journal-title":"The Lancet Global health"},{"issue":"10110","key":"pone.0268812.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2372","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(17)31794-4","article-title":"Global, regional, and subregional classification of abortions by safety, 2010\u201314: estimates from a Bayesian hierarchical model","volume":"390","author":"B Ganatra","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"pone.0268812.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1295","DOI":"10.4236\/ojog.2020.1090119","article-title":"Improving Post Abortion Care (PAC) Delivery in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Literature Review.","volume":"10","author":"A. 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