assessment of the prevalence of placental abruption in pregnant women referred to motazedi hospital, kermanshah, (2001-2002)

background & objectives : to determine the prevalence of placental abruption, due to its maternal & fetal known adverse outcomes, the present survey was carried out on pregnant women referred to the obstetric center of kermanshah university of medical science (motazedi hospital) in 2001_2002. materials and methods: this study was a descriptive one, having surveyed all the inpatient pregnant women with a definite diagnosis of placental abruption.  the instruments for gathering data was a checklist containing 32 items about demographic (age, job, education) and gestational (the age of pregnancy, pariety, prom and gestational hypertension) characteristics. results: in this study, placental abruption was observed in 300 cases out of 14433 with the prevalence of 2.08%. this study shows a significant prevalence of placental abruption in the first and second delivery.  44% of deliveries were preterm and the age of pregnancy was under 37 weeks and 51% of them involved in still birth /dead fetus. conclusion: according to the findings of the research, the frequency of placental abruption was more than those of the other research, perhaps it is due to the difference in the frequency of the predisposing factors of this problem among other societies.  for later studies, it is highly recommended to consider the predisposing factors for placental abruption.