Complications from induced abortion in Bangladesh related to types of practitioner and methods, and impact on...

Health-workers in 795 health centres in Bangladesh were interviewed about complications arising from induced abortion in rural Bangladesh. 1590 cases of complications from abortion were reported. Dais (traditional birth attendants) and traditional practitioners were the larger groups of operators (42.1% and 18.1%, respectively). Menstrual regulation or dilatation and curettage (the medically approved procedures) were used 9.1% of the time. Nearly half the complicated abortions were induced by inserting a foreign object, such as a stick or root (sometimes treated with an herb), into the uterus and leaving it until either abortion or complications ensued. 498 abortion-related deaths were reported. The proportion of complicated abortions resulting in death was lowest for medically approved procedures (4.9%) and highest for vigorous physical activity (100%) and abdominal pressure (66.7%), although the last two together accounted for only 2.3% of abortion procedures. Women who died after abortion were more likely than were women who survived to be further along in their pregnancies. An extrapolation from these results gives a figure of 780000 abortions in Bangladesh in 1978 and 7800 deaths that year from abortion complications. Many of these deaths might have been prevented if a means of safe, affordable termination of unwanted pregnancy had been available.