Foley Balloon for Cervical Preparation Before Dilation and Evacuation

Termination of pregnancy was legalized in Mozambique in 2016 for any reason until 12 weeks, and up 16 weeks in cases of rape, and at any time for cases of fetal demise, severe fetal anomaly, or to protect a woman's physical or mental health. It is also legal up until 24 weeks in the case of a chronic infectious or degenerative disease. Termination of pregnancy can be accomplished either by induction of labor or by Dilation and Evacuation (D&E). Typically, D&E after 16 weeks is a two-day procedure. The first day is devoted to cervical preparation, where osmotic dilators are placed into the cervix and allowed to slowly soften and dilate the cervix. On the second day of the procedure the uterus is evacuated. Osmotic dilators are expensive and unavailable in most of Sub-Saharan Africa. An alternative strategy to cervical preparation has recently been developed by Dr. Yashica Robinson and has been described in a retrospective cohort study. This new technique involves using a Foley Catheter balloon (FB) inserted into the cervix to dilate the cervix over several hours with buccal misoprostol as an adjunct medication. After which, the procedure is completed using the dilation and evacuation procedure. However, Foley Balloon for cervical preparation before dilation and evacuation is still considered investigational. Both Foley Balloon and misoprostol are low cost and widely available in Africa and thus may be a safe and efficacious alternative to osmotic dilators. These two strategies of cervical preparation have never been directly compared in a prospective randomized clinical trial. This study aims to conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the Foley Balloon for cervical preparation before D&E. Specifically, our objective is to evaluate the Foley Balloon technique for cervical preparation before second trimester surgical abortion between 16 and 21 weeks estimated gestational age. The investigators propose to conduct a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial to compare procedure difficulty, complication rates, provider satisfaction, and patient satisfaction with a novel technique to prove that the Foley Balloon and misoprostol method is safe, effective, and acceptable to providers and patients.