Women who have repeated abortions may put their future ability to have healthy children at risk, researchers warn today.
A major new study links having three or more induced abortions to a risk of later babies being born premature and under weight.
Researchers said the increased risk was "very small" – but statistically significant. It shows repeated abortions linked to a doubled risk of a baby being very underweight and a 35 per cent increase in the risk of premature birth before 28 weeks of pregnancy.
The Finnish research is reported in the journal Human Reproduction.
The researchers sought to establish whether the link is biological – or whether it is a result of the social factors that might lead women to have repeat abortions.
Researcher Dr Reija Klemetti, of the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland, said the findings could not "prove" abortion was the cause of later birth problems.
The findings come from a study of more than 300,000 women. About ten per cent had one induced abortion while 942 – 0.3 per cent – had undergone three or more terminations of pregnancy.
Dr Klemmetti said that in spite of her reservations, young people should be taught about the risks identified in the research.
She said: "Finland has one of the lowest rates of induced abortion in Europe, but even so, a large number are carried out every year. In addition, Finland has good quality abortion and maternity care, and in other contexts, particularly in poorer countries, the situation may be different.
"For these reasons, even a very small increase in the risk of poor birth outcomes could have significant health implications, as preterm births and low birth weight can have serious, adverse effects on the health and well-being of both babies and mothers."
Human Reproduction August 30 2012
Leave a Reply