Abortion-Related Mortality in the United States 1998–2010

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Obstet Gynecol
• Personal Author:
  Zane, Suzanne ; Creanga, Andreea A. ; Berg, Cynthia J. ; Pazol, Karen ; Suchdev, Danielle B. ; Jamieson, Denise J. ; Callaghan, William M.
• Description:
  OBJECTIVE ; To examine characteristics and causes of legal induced abortion–related deaths in the United States between 1998 and 2010. ; METHODS ; Abortion-related deaths were identified through the national Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System with enhanced case-finding. We calculated the abortion mortality rate by race, maternal age, and gestational age and the distribution of causes of death by gestational age and procedure. ; RESULTS ; During the period from 1998–2010, of approximately 16.1 million abortion procedures, 108 women died, for a mortality rate of 0.7 deaths per 100,000 procedures overall, 0.4 deaths for non-Hispanic white women, 0.5 deaths for Hispanic women, and 1.1 deaths for black women. The mortality rate increased with gestational age, from 0.3 to 6.7 deaths for procedures performed at 8 weeks or less and at 18 weeks or greater, respectively. A majority of abortion-related deaths at 13 weeks of gestation or less were associated with anesthesia complications and infection, whereas a majority of abortion-related deaths at more than 13 weeks of gestation were associated with infection and hemorrhage. In 20 of the 108 cases, the abortion was performed as a result of a severe medical condition where continuation of the pregnancy threatened the woman’s life. ; CONCLUSION ; Deaths associated with legal induced abortion continue to be rare events—less than 1 per 100,000 procedures. Primary prevention of unintended pregnancy, including those in women with serious pre-existing medical conditions, and increased access to abortion services at early gestational ages may help to further decrease abortion-related mortality in the United States.
• Subjects:
  • Abortion, Legal
  • Adult
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Maternal Age
  • Population Surveillance
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Trimesters
  • Pregnancy, Unplanned
  More +
• Source:
  Obstet Gynecol. 126(2):258-265.
• Pubmed ID:
  26241413
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4554338
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  126
• Issue:
  2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/33939/cdc_33939_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 688.28 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:0595cd7621c45bdffb977f001f13b87cb9f813773cf908e98c57cc580cb391a7