Termination of pregnancy: a dangerous practice?

Voluntary termination of pregnancy is a very common practice, complications should not be neglected as can be severe and life threatening. Abortion is dangerous when practiced in bad conditions ... In France, the regulations are clear.
Voluntary termination of pregnancy or abortion is an induced abortion, and only decided by the woman. In order to secure the woman about possible complications, abortion is now governed by various rules in France and authorization requires the fulfillment of several conditions.

Voluntary termination of pregnancy is different from the medical termination of pregnancy, the latter being induced for medical reasons (severe fetal disease, serious illness of the mother, birth, ...) abortion.

Voluntary termination of pregnancy should be performed between the 12th and 14th week of pregnancy. Several steps must be followed before proceeding: Mandatory pre-medical consultations, clinical examinations, screening tests for sexually transmitted diseases or other diseases (hepatitis B, for example), maintenance sessions psycho- social, ...

Voluntary termination of pregnancy can be performed either by a surgical technique is a drug technique.

The technique is only indicated drug before the end of the fifth week of pregnancy and involves taking medications that can cause contractions and trigger evacuation and expulsion of the egg. Medication administration can also be performed vaginally. Voluntary termination of pregnancy by medical method can be done at home. It is often associated with bleeding, and pain. Retention of an egg fragment is possible and may require surgical aspiration.

The surgical technique is mainly practiced in hospitals requires hospitalization for at least 12 hours. It is indicated beyond the fifth week of pregnancy until the 12th week, but also performed in case of against-indications to drug method. It can be performed under local or general anesthesia, general anesthesia is the choice today. Instrumental method is to suck the embryo by introducing a suitable material into the uterus, after a preliminary dilation of the cervix. This technique is not without risk possible complications encountered are uterine perforation, hemorrhage, uterine infection or tear the cervix. Another method is to curette the uterus with a curette, it is now increasingly abandoned in industrialized countries. Indeed, complications are common and can be serious (infections and sepsis, infertility or death).

After termination of pregnancy, counseling is mandatory and a contraceptive method is proposed. A medical consultation is proposed monitoring before the 21st day to ensure that the expulsion of the embryo was complete.

A medical consultation should be done in emergency fever, severe abdominal pain, bleeding, or vaginal discharge.

Voluntary termination of pregnancy is not a Benin act, it is a dangerous practice since it is made in illegal and precarious conditions. In this case, complications are significantly serious and can cause death.

In France, the voluntary interruption of pregnancy must be carried out either by an experienced possession of an agreement with a health care facility or by a gynecologist obstetrician.