Two recent efforts to quantify the causes of maternal deaths on a global scale generated divergent estimates of abortion-related mortality. Such discrepancies in estimates of abortion-related mortality present an important opportunity to explore unique challenges and opportunities associated with the generation and interpretation of abortion-related mortality estimates. While innovations in pri...

CONTEXT Information on abortion levels and trends can inform research and policies affecting maternal and reproductive health, but the incidence of legal abortion has not been assessed in nearly a decade. METHODS Statistics on legal abortions in 2003 were compiled for 60 countries in which the procedure is broadly legal, and trends were assessed where possible. Data sources included published...

Many women experience miscarriage every year. Every fourth woman who has given birth reports that she has previous experience of miscarriage. In a study of all women in the Swedish Medical Birth Register 1983-2003, we found that the number of cases of self reported miscarriage had increased in Sweden during this 21 year period. This increase can be explained by the introduction of sensitive pre...

BACKGROUND Direct measurement of sensitive health events is often limited by high levels of under-reporting due to stigma and concerns about privacy. Abortion in particular is notoriously difficult to measure. This study implements a novel method to estimate the cumulative lifetime incidence of induced abortion in Liberia. METHODS In a randomly selected sample of 3219 women ages 15–49 years i...

BACKGROUND In Uganda, abortion is permitted only when the life of a woman is in danger. This restriction compels the perpetuation of the practice in secrecy and often under unsafe conditions. In 2003, 294,000 induced abortions were estimated to occur each year in Uganda. Since then, no other research on abortion incidence has been conducted in the country. METHODS Data from 418 health facilit...

Background: To determine the incidence of an abnormal glucose tolerance test in patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion and whether metformin would safely reduce the rate of first trimester spontaneous abortions in patients without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) as well as with PCOS and an abnormal glucose tolerance test. Materials and Methods: Patients with a history of recurrent sponta...

OBJECTIVE This study measures the extent to which women who access clinical abortion services in the United States report having ever used misoprostol or other substances to self-induce. STUDY DESIGN A random sample of 107 US abortion providers was asked to distribute questionnaires to abortion patients. RESULTS Information was gathered from 9493 patients at 95 facilities, and weights were ...

Abortion is illegal in Rwanda except when necessary to protect a woman's physical health or to save her life. Many women in Rwanda obtain unsafe abortions, and some experience health complications as a result. To estimate the incidence of induced abortion, we conducted a national sample survey of health facilities that provide postabortion care and a purposive sample survey of key informants kn...