Objective: To provide a descriptive account of the challenges and administrative preparedness for establishing and sustaining safe obstetric services during the COVID-19

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Background: Sublingual Misoprostol 200 ug 4 hrly is as effective or less effective than vaginal Misoprostol 200ug 4hrly with 200mg oral Mifepristone in termination of second trimester pregnancy.To compare effectiveness, side-effects, and patient satisfaction of sublingual vs vaginal misoprostol administration.Methods: It was prospective randomized open label study. 60 women 13-20 weeks of gestation with a valid legal indication for termination of pregnancy as per MTP act in INDIA were enrolled for study, randomly divided into Group A- Sublingual (n=30) group B-Vaginal (n=30). For group A, 200 mg of Mifepristone was given, 48h later Misoprostol 200 µg was given sublingually 4hrly up to a maximum of 5 doses. If abortion does not occur, the pregnancy was terminated with vaginal misoprostol, in group A. Same procedure repeated in group B. If abortion fails to occur after 5 doses, then second course of vaginal misoprostol was given in group B. Failure of procedure was defined as failed expulsion of foetus at 48 hrs. Results: Mean induction-abortion interval in vaginal group was 12.8±4.38h and 11.47±4.42h in sublingual group was comparable with insignificant p value (p=0.136). All the side effects were comparable in both groups. The overall success rate was 93.3% in the sublingual group while it was 100% in the vaginal group.Conclusion: Vaginal misoprostol with oral mifepristone priming in second -trimester medical abortion has a shorter time to pregnancy termination compared with a sublingual regimen. However, both the routes are equally effective for induction of abortion.

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The lack of reliable data on the risk of miscarriage due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a concern for both patients and obstetricians. A recent meta-analysis demonstrated an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcome in low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) when compared with high-income countries 1 . The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was reported to be more fatal than the first wave, with increased disease severity and maternal mortality 2 . However, the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 in India on the rate of miscarriage is unknown.