Abortion and Unintended Pregnancy in Six Indian States: Findings and Implications for Policies and Programs (original) (raw)
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The incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy in India, 2015
The Lancet. Global health, 2018
Reliable information on the incidence of induced abortion in India is lacking. Official statistics and national surveys provide incomplete coverage. Since the early 2000s, medication abortion has become increasingly available, improving the way women obtain abortions. The aim of this study was to estimate the national incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy for 2015. National abortion incidence was estimated through three separate components: abortions (medication and surgical) in facilities (including private sector, public sector, and non-governmental organisations [NGOs]); medication abortions outside facilities; and abortions outside of facilities and with methods other than medication abortion. Facility-based abortions were estimated from the 2015 Health Facilities Survey of 4001 public and private health facilities in six Indian states (Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh) and from NGO clinic data. National medication abortion drug sales...
Induced abortion potential among Indian women
1997
Information on abortion is limited and inaccurate especially in the developing world, which has led to several speculations on the prevalence of abortion in this region. A rise in prevalence of abortion is mostly accounted for in terms of increase in the prevalence of induced abortions, which reflects on the reproductive health of women. With the growing concern for reproductive health of women, the study of abortion phenomenon has drawn serious attention of researchers world wide. In such circumstances, this is an attempt to assess the induced abortion potential among Indian women by utilising information on proportion of unwanted and ill-timed pregnancies obtained through National Family Health Survey, India.
Unintended Pregnancy, Abortion and Postabortion Care in Uttar Pradesh, India—2015
An estimated 3.2 million abortions occurred in Uttar Pradesh in 2015. These included safe and unsafe abortions, and those taking place both in health facilities and in other settings. The state's abortion rate was 61 terminations per 1,000 women of reproductive age. ■ ■ The large majority of abortions (83%, or 2.6 million) took place in nonfacility settings using medical methods of abortion, and 5% (162,600) were performed outside of health facilities using other methods. ■ ■ Only 11% of abortions (359,100) occurred in health facilities. Private facilities provided most facility-based terminations (65%). ■ ■ An estimated 6,252 facilities in Uttar Pradesh provided abortionrelated care (induced abortion, postabortion care or both types of services) in 2015; 25% were public and 75% were private. Sixty-nine percent of public facilities reported offering no abortion-related care. ■ ■ Most health facility abortions (95%) took place in the first trimester of pregnancy (up to 12 weeks' gestation), and more than half (68%) occurred at less than eight weeks' gestation. The majority were performed surgically using manual or electric vacuum aspiration (20%) or either dilatation and evacuation or dilatation and curettage (37%). ■ ■ Although more than seven in 10 women of reproductive age in Uttar Pradesh live in rural areas, only 29% of facilities that provide any abortion-related services were located in rural areas. Among facilities that offered such services, 12% of hospitals-the facilities best equipped to handle severe complications or later-term abortionswere located in rural areas. ■ ■ Nearly half (49%) of pregnancies occurring in Uttar Pradesh in 2015 were unintended. The majority (64%) of these unintended pregnancies ended in an abortion.
Unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion: Data from men and women in Rajasthan, India
2004
This report is the result of a collaborative project between the Population Council and the Centre for Operations Research and Training, conducted as part of a Council program of research on unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion in Rajasthan, India. Designed as a complement to service-delivery activities being undertaken in Rajasthan by the Indian nongovernmental reproductive health service provider Parivar Seva Sanstha, the program of research aimed to provide a multifaceted picture of the on-the-ground realities related to unwanted pregnancy and abortion in six districts of Rajasthan. Detailed pregnancy histories yielded data on levels of unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion in the sampled areas in Rajasthan. As noted in this report, the legal right to abortion is not a reality for the majority of women in the sample in Rajasthan. Women have strong desires to meet their reproductive intentions, but existing methods of family planning and abortion services are not meeting thei...
Induced abortion and women\u27s reproductive health in India
2013
Despite the intensive national campaign for safe motherhood and legalization of induced abortion (IA), morbidity from abortion has remained a serious problem for Indian women. This study examined the consequences of IA on women\u27s reproductive health. Analysis used data of 90,303 ever-married women age 15–49 years, included in India\u27s second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2, 1998–99). Binary logistic regression methods were used to examine the consequences of IA on women\u27s reproductive health. Independent of other factors, the likelihood of experiencing any reproductive health problems was 1.5 times higher (OR,1.46; 95% CI,1.33–1.60; P \u3c 0.001) among women who had one IA and 1.9 times higher (OR,1.85; 95% CI,1.52–2.27; P \u3c 0.001) among women who had two or more IA compared to women with no history of IA. Study suggests that IA may have negative consequences for women\u27s reproductive health
Induced Abortion and Women’s Reproductive Health in India
Despite the intensive national campaign for safe motherhood and legalization of induced abortion (IA), morbidity from abortion has remained a serious problem for Indian women. This study examined the consequences of IA on women's reproductive health. Analysis used data of 90,303 ever-married women age 15-49 years, included in India's second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2, 1998-99). Binary logistic regression methods were used to examine the consequences of IA on women's reproductive health. Independent of other factors, the likelihood of experiencing any reproductive health problems was 1.5 times higher (OR,1.46;95%CI,1.33-1.60;P<0.001) among women who had one IA and 1.9 times higher (OR,1.85;95%CI,1.52-2.27;P<0.001) among women who had two or more IA compared to women with no history of IA. Study suggests that IA may have negative consequences for women's reproductive health.
Studies in Family Planning, 2020
Despite induced abortion being broadly legal in India, up‐to‐date information on its frequency and safety is not readily available. Using direct and indirect methodological approaches, this study measures the one‐year incidence and safety of induced abortions among women in the state of Rajasthan. The analysis utilizes data from a population‐based survey of 5,832 reproductive aged women who reported on the abortion experiences of their closest female confidante in addition to themselves. We separately assess correlates of having a recent and most unsafe abortion using multivariable regression models. The confidante approach produced a one‐year abortion incidence estimate of 23 per 1,000 women, whereas the respondent estimate is 9.5 per 1,000 women. Based on the confidante estimate, approximately 441,000 abortions occurred in Rajasthan over a year. Overall, 25 and 29 percent of respondent and confidante reported abortions were classified as most unsafe. Results suggest that abortion ...
Unsafe abortion and abortion-related death among 1.8 million women in India
BMJ Global Health
IntroductionUnsafe abortion is a preventable cause of maternal mortality. While studies report high number of abortions in India, the population-level rates of unsafe abortion and their risk factors are not well understood. Our objective was to analyse the rates of and risk factors for unsafe abortion and abortion-related maternal death in India.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of data from 1 876 462 pregnant women aged 15–58 years from nine states in the Indian Annual Health Survey (2010–2013). We calculated the rate of unsafe abortion and abortion-related mortality with 95% CI. Multivariable logistic regression models examined the associations of sociodemographic characteristics, health seeking behaviours and family planning with unsafe abortion and abortion-related mortality.ResultsThere were 89 447 abortions among 1 876 462 pregnant women in 2007–2011 (4.8%; 95% CI 4.8 to 4.9). Of these, 58 266 were classified as unsafe (67.1%; 95% CI 66.7 to 67.5). There were 253 aborti...