Top image: Do you know what misoprostol is?
In 2018, Ipas Central America and Mexico (CAM) created an informational video in Spanish on how women can safely self-manage an abortion using misoprostol, which available in most pharmacies in Mexico without a prescription. Staff started using the video to train Mexican pharmacy workers so they could advise and support women seeking abortion pills.
But they quickly realized that views of the video on their YouTube channel far outpaced the number of trainings they were doing. People searching the internet for information on abortion with pills were finding and watching the video (“Safe Abortion with Misoprostol”) by the thousands, and a robust discussion had also started in the comments section. The video now has more than 550,000 views and over 3,600 comments.
When the Ipas CAM team recently analysed the thousands of comments, they found around 38% were questions and answers about the process of self-managing an abortion with misoprostol, and 13% were about the pills and how to obtain them. They also found that 163 people had shared their personal experiences with self-managed abortion, which were mostly positive stories of success offering assurance to those considering the option.
To respond to the questions raised in the comments, on 23 April 2020, Ipas CAM launched a revised video, “Safe Abortion with Misoprostol – How to use these pills for a successful abortion,” with additional sections on expected effects of misoprostol, signs of complications for which you should seek medical help, and how to confirm a successful abortion. This video also has English subtitles, to be useful for a wider audience. In under three months, the video had already had almost 300,000 views.
SOURCE: Ipas.org, 4 August 2020