unsafe abortions are entirely preventable
1 in 4 pregnancies worldwide
ends in induced abortion
7 million women
are hospitalized each year
for complications from unsafe abortions
Every 23 minutes
a woman or girl dies
from an unsafe abortion
Our projects
Vitala Global provides people with evidence-based digital platforms to support their safe abortion and family planning journeys.
We focus our work in challenging contexts because there are more barriers for women and girls to accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and tools in these settings. We currently have two projects, one in Canada where the needs are culturally diverse and spread across many different contexts, and in Latin America where the SRH situation is particularly complex due to the restrictive legal context for safe abortion care and various sociocultural factors.
While working with women in Canada, they shared with us their concern about the lack of medical and psychosocial support after having an abortion in the face of dealing with stigma, isolation, and experiencing physical and psychological changes to their bodies.
We decided to address this gap and started by asking women going through an abortion experience what they would want and need to feel supported through a use of a digital platform. Participatory research from surveys, focus groups, and interviews with women and key community stakeholders, led to the co-creation of myPostCare.
myPostCare provides multidisciplinary support through holistic content that addresses topics such as medical side effects and symptoms, emotional and psychological well-being, family planning options, and sexual health. There is also personalized support through email notifications addressing the natural stages and changes in the post-abortion care journey.
With the support of the Options for Pregnancy Termination Innovation Initiative grant (OPTions) this project is dedicated to addressing the gaps in safe abortion care and family planning access that women and girls in Latin America face due to unplanned pregnancies, clandestine and unsafe abortions, and consequently maternal deaths that are occurring.
Aya Contigo was inspired by the unique innovative work we did for myPostCare, the overwhelming positive responses from Canadian women who have used the myPostCare platform, and support from our SRH stakeholders, colleagues and mentors throughout Canada and the USA to keep on innovating digital solutions to improve safe abortion care and family planning access.
Together with our partners across Latin America - International Planned Parenthood Federation Wester Hemisphere Region (IPPFWHR) and the SRH grassroots community - Vitala Global’s multidisciplinary team is co-creating Aya Contigo, a mobile app to accompany women to self-manage their abortions safely and to support them to make culturally and contextually appropriate family planning decisions. Our technology partner, AnnieCannons, Inc, is a female-led web and software development shop whose engineers have experienced human trafficking and/or gender-based violence.