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Guiding change: provider voices in youth pre-abortion counselling in urban Vietnam

Pre-abortion counselling has a role in promoting safe sex practices and in preventing repeated unplanned pregnancies and repeated abortions among abortion-seeking women. Such counselling is essential in Vietnam, especially given the common use of abortion. Arguably, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the delivery of pre-abortion counselling is more urgent for young women, who have historically been ignored by State reproductive health initiatives and are increasingly exposed to transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unplanned pregnancies and abortion. This paper charts urban Vietnamese service providers' discourses in pre-abortion counselling specific for reducing risks of additional unwanted pregnancies, repeat abortion and STI/HIV transmission among young Vietnamese women. Thirteen providers working in counselling delivery, management and programme-planning at the Reproductive Health Care Centre of Ho Chi Minh City participated in this study. Through qualitative interviews, this paper elicits a range of provider attitudes, considerations and approaches in pre-abortion counselling and presents these discourses using participant anecdotes. Demonstrated among participant responses were five key pre-abortion counselling phases for promoting effective family planning among young women. Topics covered in these counselling phases included abortion complications, post-abortion fertility return, contraception, behaviour change and STI/HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health basics (SRH). The service provider discourses gleaned from this study are foundational for further research and development of best practice guidelines in pre-abortion counselling.