The
Asian Age: Mumbai: Monday, 02 March 2015.
Some 91,231
women have undergone medical termination of pregnancy in the state in the last
four years while there have been 1,036 maternal deaths. A latest RTI report
procured from the public health department says that on an average 186 women
are undergoing the procedure daily.
The high
abortion rates show lack of awareness of family planning measures and the
prevalence of daughter aversion in the state, according to non-government
organisations working in the area.
Highlighting
the reasons for the high number of abortion deaths, doctors said unchecked use
of medical termination pills, post-abortion complications, frequent abortions
and aborting a child after 20 weeks which is illegal were leading to
complications and death.
The
information on the rate of medical termination of pregnancy in the state and
abortion deaths in the last four years has been furnished by RTI activist
Chetan Kothari.
The year
2013-14 saw the highest number of abortions in which there were 30,117 cases
while a total of 276 died during the procedure.
Nandita Shah,
co-director of Akshara, said many women died owing to frequent abortions. “Many
women go for sex-selective abortions after undergoing sex determination tests,
which are still illegally prevalent in many places. Daughter aversion is high
in the state,” said Ms Shah.
Experts also
pointed out that there was a lack of awareness on family planning measures
among the common public. “During our field trips we have seen many women who
are not aware of the presence of such a system. Even when they are, they are not
allowed to demand it, as men are dominating their choices,” said Naureen
Daruwala, programme director for NGO SNEHA.
“Then there
are factors such as social stigma and embarrassment related to demanding
contraception, which the government still has not been able to address,” she
further added.
However,
Archana Patil, additional director of the public health department, added that
though the figures were significant, abortions were not always due to lack of
awareness. “There are many cases in which abortion is necessary as there is a
threat to the mother’s health or the child has been detected with an anomaly. A
huge number of women are conceiving due to failure of contraceptives. Abortions
are also performed in case of pregnancies owing to rape, which is adding to the
numbers,” said Ms Patil.
Doctors said
that negligence of the common man is adding to the problem.
“In the first
trimester, that is in less than seven weeks of the pregnancy, the patient can
undergo abortion with the use of pills, but that has to be used after tests. If
the pregnancy is intra-uterine, the use of pills can lead to major
complications, which women don’t realise,” said Dr Sonal Kunta, senior
gynaecologist from Fortis Hospital, Mulund.
She added
that abortion after seven weeks cannot be done without a specialised
gynaecologist. “It is done through suction evacuation before 12 weeks and through
surgical procedure after three months, but only after careful examinations,”
added Dr Kunta. She later said that these procedures too could lead to
complications such as perforation and excess bleeding which has to be taken
care of immediately by the expert.
Dr Rajshri
Katke, senior gynaecologist, Cama Hospital, said that only the help of
registered gynaecologist at registered centres must be sought in case of
abortions. “Unchecked use of any kind of pills or surgical procedure leads to
such complications that can cause death,” said Dr Katke.
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