Prevalence of Induced Abortion amongst Women Attending Antenatal Care Services in a Tertiary Health Institution in Nigeria

Introduction/ Background: Induced abortion is a major cause of maternal death and ill-health in developing countries, especially in those with restrictive abortion laws as in Nigeria. Antenatal subjects will form a window through which this aged-long procedure can be reappraised on what was responsible for the survival of those who had an abortion in the past.

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence of induced abortions amongst antenatal attendants.

Methodology: This study was carried out at The Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, Nigeria, between April 1st and August 31st, 2016. It was a cross-sectional, retrospective observational study of 352 subjects attending antenatal care at the centre. It was reportage of the respondent’s history of terminations of pregnancies in the past using closed-ended pretested questionnaire.

Results: The induced abortion rate for the study was 53.7% of deliveries. The Odds Ratio (OR) between unmarried and married women for pregnancy termination was: (OR = 5.65 at 95% CI 3.96 to 8.06, p < 0.0001). The odds against having an abortion and live births in the study were: (OR 0.59 at 95% CI 0.45 to 0.78, p<0.0001). The mean gestational age at termination of pregnancies was 7.3 weeks and the age at first pregnancy termination was 21.06 ± 3.27 years. Pregnancies (n=189) were terminated because subjects were not married (39.75%) and to further their education (37.0%). Doctors terminated 148 (78.3%) pregnancies, 141 (74.6%) pregnancies were terminated in private clinic settings, 169 (89.4%) said the termination environment was clean, 124 (65.6) experienced febrile morbidity after pregnancy termination. The odds ratio for long term modern contraceptive use by subjects who had a termination of pregnancy (n=189), (OR= 4.68, 95% CI 3.27 to 6.69, P< 0.0001).

Conclusion: With the degree of febrile morbidity amongst subjects after the procedure, much need to be done to meet WHO standards for safe abortion in countries with restrictive abortion laws.