Abortion: When fetus life gets terminated

Abortion means forced termination of pregnancy. It may result in fetus death. Or, abortion can be accompanied by the death of the fetus.

Abortion means forced termination of pregnancy. It may result in fetus death. Or, abortion can be accompanied by the death of the fetus.

At times, abortion can be natural. It is then popularly called miscarriage. Therefore, miscarriage connotes spontaneous abortion. Abortion is the unintended pregnancy termination. Spontaneous abortion, therefore, happens prior to the fetus becoming capable of carrying on independent life.

Spontaneous abortion or miscarriage can happen due to two main reasons. Spontaneous abortion can occur if the mothers possess such disorders or suffer such injuries that may hinder smooth pregnancies. Spontaneous abortion can also happen if the fetus fails to develop as it should be within the womb. Repeated instances of spontaneous abortion can hinder a woman from carrying forward pregnancies to terms in future.

Most of the miscarriages take place during the first three weeks of pregnancy. A few of the miscarriages also happen between the fourth to 12th weeks of pregnancies. Medical researches have ascertained that miscarriages account 15 per cent of approximately 15 per cent of all pregnancies. Studies have found that one-fourth of all pregnancies tend to abort automatically.

Some women have a natural tendency to miscarry. Such dysfunctions need urgent gynecological attention.

Repeated spontaneous abortions jeopardize the chances or probabilities of future pregnancies transforming into successful childbirth instances.

The expectant mother’s kin must immediately consult the gynecologist if she complains of heavy bleeding from the vagina or suffers acute abdominal cramping. It has been found that intense vaginal bleeding is the most commonly complained symptom of threatened miscarriage. It can also be accompanied by sporadic excruciating pain.

Spontaneous abortions do not occur for only one or just a set of interrelated factors. It can happen due to many reasons.

However, 50 per cent of the spontaneous abortions have been attributed to either or both the unnatural development of the placental issue or of the embryo. These abnormalities can be due to three main reasons. They can happen due to the faulty sperm or egg cells (germ cells). Another cause of spontaneous abortions may be because of defective budding of the fertilized egg. Besides, other maternal problems can also lead to spontaneous abortions. The primary ones are psychological shocks including acute trauma or/and anxiety, diabetes and other systemic diseases like those of the kidney (nephritis). Premature expulsion of the fetus can take place also due to malfunctions of the uterine tract or portions besides tumors.

During spontaneous abortions, any of the following things may happen: There may be a missed abortion. In such a state, the dead embryo can remain in the uterus for months on end. Some spontaneous abortions may expel the entire or a part of the fetus. More often than not, gynecologists go for removal of the residual placental or embryonic tissue through surgeries. Such a procedure obviates the chances of uterine lining infection or its infection.

The generally prescribed treatment to avert threatened spontaneous abortions is bed rest. In cases of repeated spontaneous abortions, total bed rest for the entire pregnancy term becomes indispensable. Often, hormone and vitamin therapy is also suggested. In extreme cases, the patient may even have to undergo surgeries to correct the uterine abnormalities.

Sex hormone or synthetic estrogen is also known as DES or Diethylstilbestrol. Produced in 1938, it was widely used before 1970 in the USA to check miscarriages. But in 1970, researchers found that sex hormone taken by women before their 18th weeks of pregnancies had serious effects on their fetuses. It was discovered that particularly the female fetuses were prone to develop vaginal cancer. However, DES is still used widely to treat some cancer forms in both the sexes and also to correct some gynecological malfunctions.

Toxemia can also cause death of both the baby and the mother. This serious condition usually happens in some late pregnancy cases. Toxemia can degenerate into coma. There can be seizures. It may lead to even death. The symptoms are presence of protein in urine, excessive swelling (edema) leading to and rapid weight gain even up to 13 kg, and high blood pressure. If severe toxemia happens, then the doctors generally opt for immediate deliveries to save the child and the mother. However, toxemia gets cured automatically with birth.

Fifth disease caused by parvovirus can also lead to spontaneous abortions. Though it generally affects children, it can happen in adults too. Its effects are arthritis and joint pains. The most vulnerable adults are people suffering from sickle cell anemia. There can also be short-time failure of bone marrow.

There is a vast difference between the connotations of the two terms: spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) and induced abortion. While the former happens naturally, the latter is carried out artificially. Induced abortions are brought on deliberately. In the clinics, induced abortions are generally done with due consent of the patient or her kin.

It becomes absolutely necessary and often has to be carried out emergently to save the life of the expectant mother. Often an induced abortion is carried out because the pregnancy is unwanted. Hence, induced abortion refers to that undesirable situation in the life of an expectant mother when the pregnancy has to be ended intentionally simply because the pregnancy may be life threatening to the mother or may be posing serious danger to the fetus or may be extremely precarious to both the mother and the fetus.

Such an abortion is also known as chemical or medical abortion. The advantages of such an abortion are that neither the procedure is invasive nor doe sit require any medical instruments or anesthesia. Moreover, drug-induced abortions can be carried out in any clinic unlike the surgical abortions which can be carried out only in a well-equipped operation room.

If chemical abortion is chosen as an alternative to surgical abortions in the first seven pregnancy weeks, then many doctors prescribe Mifepristone or RU-486 to the patients to induce abortions. Nonetheless, chemical abortions cannot be possible if the pregnancy has entered the seventh week. On the other hand, surgical abortions can be done faster. They are completed in two visits to the hospital and do not pose problems in future pregnancies.

Not necessarily! One out of every four pregnant women has vaginal bleeding. But 50 per cent of them carry their pregnancies to the full term.

Across the world, there has been a heated debate over the need for abortion. However

, the proponents of abortion cite the need to save the lives of mothers as the main need for abortions. The other camp oppose abortion on ethical and humane grounds.

Nilutpal Gogoi is a writer and a freelance journalist. He has published more than 1000 articles and a popular adventure book for children. For more information log on to

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