New Research Links Abortion and Pregnancy Complications
8/25/15
A new study has found that having a single induced abortion or miscarriage can lead to complications in future pregnancies.
The study, published in the Journal of Maternal Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, examined deliveries for 15,000 women in Tel Aviv who were giving birth for the first time, of whom 1,500 had a previous abortion or miscarriage before 13 weeks. Women who had previously had an abortion or miscarriage were more likely to have complications, including higher rates of induced labor, retained placenta after delivery and cesarean sections.
Reports the Daily Mail:
Among the women with a past terminated pregnancy, 53 percent had miscarriages, 33 percent had abortions and another 14 percent didn’t have the type of termination specified in their records.
About seven percent of women with a prior abortion or miscarriage had labor induction, compared with about five percent of women pregnant for the first time.
Cesarean deliveries were performed for 25 percent of women with a prior terminated pregnancy, compared with 18 percent of the other women.
Retained placenta after birth — where the placenta fails to deliver — occurred with about seven percent of women who had a history of miscarriage or abortion, compared with roughly five percent of the other women.
But extensive bleeding, a serious side effect of the placenta failing to emerge after the baby, was rare and happened in roughly three percent of the deliveries regardless of the women’s prior pregnancy history.
Lead author Dr. Liran Hiersch told the Daily Mail that pregnancy loss is “a very common event,” and that the findings “should be taken into account together with other parameters when assessing the risk for adverse outcome.”
“We hope this study will be incorporated in the usual risk assessments,” Hiersch said. “Doctors should know there is another element to factor in when assisting a woman before labor.”
Other studies have also found that induced abortion can impact later pregnancies, including an increased risk of infertility and preterm birth, which has been linked to an increased risk of mental impairment, autism, cerebral palsy and epilepsy disorders in children.
Learn More:
Abortion’s Impact on Later Pregnancies
Induced Abortion and Risk of Later Preterm Births
Informed Consent for Abortion (see p. 3)
Video Exposes Link Between Abortion and Preterm Birth
New Study Links Multiple Abortions, Preterm Birth
New Review Links Abortion to to Higher Risk of Preterm Birth
Get Help:
American Association of Pro-Life Ob/Gyns
Help During Pregnancy
Help After Abortion
Center Against Forced Abortions
