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Chapter 24 - Complications Associated with Legal Termination of Pregnancy

from Section 2 - Infections in Pregnancy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2019

By
Christine Helmy Samuel Azer
Edited by
Adel Elkady ,
Prabha Sinha  and
Soad Ali Zaki Hassan
Adel Elkady
Affiliation:
Police Force Hospital, Cairo
Prabha Sinha
Affiliation:
Oman Medical College, Oman
Soad Ali Zaki Hassan
Affiliation:
Alexandria University
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Summary

Termination is ending of a pregnancy by removing a fetus or embryo before it can survive outside the uterus.

The legality of abortion/termination of pregnancy varies worldwide.

When allowed by law, it is considered as one of the safest procedures in medicine.

The World Health Organization recommends safe and legal abortions be available to all women.

In 95 per cent of cases, no complications develop; however, there is always a risk of infection. The risk is higher in surgical than medical terminations due to uterine instrumentation.

Today, about 50 million abortions are performed every year. The worldwide rate of abortion is 28 per 1000 women. With proper equipment and qualified medical personnel, legal abortion is one of the safest procedures.

Rates of upper genital tract infection in the setting of legal induced abortion in the United States are generally less than 1 per cent.

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Infections in Pregnancy
An Evidence-Based Approach
 , pp. 143 - 145
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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References

Grimes, DA, Benson, J, Singh, S et al. Unsafe abortion: the preventable pandemic. Lancet. 2011; 368(9550):1908–19.Google Scholar
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