Abstract : Unsafe abortion is one of the greatest neglected problems of health care in developing countries and is a major medical and public health problem in Ethiopia. In this perspective, a cross-sectional hospital-based multi-center study was undertaken to identify the primary abortionist while the patient is in the hospital. Also, the study aims to determine the type of materials used to terminate the pregnancy, the number of attempts made to terminate the index pregnancy and to characterize the women with induced abortions at 5 hospitals in the city of Addis Ababa. A total of 2275 cases of abortion had been admitted to the study hospitals with obstetric and gynecologic services. The study demonstrated that 984 (43.3%) were spontaneous abortions. Of the 1290 illicit or unsafe abortions, 455 (35.3%) were performed by health assistants, 366 (28.4%) self-induced and 306 (23.7%) by non-medical people (cleaners). High doses of ampicillin per OS (32.3%) and inserting plastic tubes per vagina (32.1%) were identified as the most commonly used methods for inducing abortion. The study provides evidence that unsafe abortion carries a high risk of complications, permanent damage and even death where abortion is illegal or not readily available.
Source : Source Popline : http://db.jhuccp.org/popinform/basic.html - PIP 159963.