ABSTRACT
The ‘informal provider’ has been variously used to refer to illegal providers, untrained providers, home-based providers, nonphysician providers and/or sometimes to those working outside a formal health system, whether public or private. In the northern parts of India, where recognised abortion facilities are few and far between, informal service provision continues to play a major role. While the degree of use may vary, as also the methods used, informal providers do exist and are involved in health seeking for unwanted pregnancy at various levels. In this chapter, the authors focus on a research to examine the role that informal providers play in the provision of abortion care in different geographic contexts. The research sites, which were located in seven different states, represent a diverse range of geographic settings, ranging from rural to peri-urban and urban. The sex composition of informal providers varied greatly from region to region. In Karnataka, the majority of informal providers were females.
