Multiple Abortions Bad for First Birth Baby

An alarming study for women published in the August 30 Journal Human Reproduction, focuses on the effects of induced abortions.  According to the study, three or more abortions in a woman may result in adverse birth outcomes for the first baby such as premature and low birth weight.

In order to conduct the study the researchers analyzed data of 300,858 Finnish mothers between 1996 and 2008. Out of which nearly 10.3 percent women had one induced abortion and nearly 1.5 percent had two and 0.3 percent had three or more induced abortions before the first birth.

The researchers noted that women with three or more induced abortion were at a higher risk of having a baby with very low birth weight of less than 1500g  or a preterm birth that could be either before 3 weeks or before 28 weeks. But these symptoms were absent in women who never underwent any abortions.

Dr Reija Klemetti, an associate professor and senior researcher in public health at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland, who led the research, said: "Our results suggest that induced abortions before the first birth, particularly three or more abortions, are associated with a marginally increased risk during the first birth. However, the increased risk is very small, particularly after only one or even two abortions, and women should not be alarmed by our findings."

The study had taken into consideration several factors such as social background, marital status, age, smoking, previous ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages that could affect the birth outcomes.

"To put these risks into perspective, for every 1000 women, three who have had no abortion will have a baby born under 28 weeks," said Klemetti. "This rises to four women among those who have had one abortion, six women who have had two abortions, and 11 women who have had three or more."

"Our study is the first large study to look at a broad set of perinatal outcomes and to control, at least partly, for the most important confounding factors such as smoking and socioeconomic position," said Klemetti. "However, it is important to say that even though we adjusted for these factors, and also ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages, there might be some confounding for social class that we could not control for. Most probably, this may be related to women's (or some of these women's) way of life, life habits, and sexual and reproductive health."

"Furthermore, this is an observational study and, however large and well-controlled, it only shows there are a link between abortion and some adverse birth outcomes -- it cannot prove that abortions are the cause."

The Guardian quoted Dr Patricia Lohr, BPAS Medical Director who said that the risk, if it exists, is small. "For most women the foremost consideration when faced with an unplanned pregnancy is whether they feel in the position to carry that pregnancy to term and become a parent, or add to their existing family."

Researchers conclude saying, "We suggest that the potential for increased risks for subsequent births should be included in sex education, especially as there are other, good reasons to avoid induced abortions. Health professionals should also be informed about the potential risks of repeat abortions."