21-year-old student dies of botched abortion in Hyderabad. What is botched abortion?

Did you know around 66,000 women around the world die each year because of a botched abortion?

In the last week of July, there was news of a 10-year-old pregnant rape victim not allowed to medically terminate the pregnancy because she was 26 weeks into the pregnancy. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, draws the line for the abortion of a foetus at 20 weeks and hence, pregnancies beyond 20 weeks are not allowed to terminate. Here is another incident. A 21-year-old engineering student died of a botched abortion at a private maternity hospital in Hyderabad's Vansthalipuram area on Monday.

The girl, hailing from Patancheru in neighbouring Medak district, was staying in a hostel. She allegedly developed a physical relationship with Madhu, a distant relative. On Monday, the 21-year-old died of excessive bleeding. She was earlier admitted to a private maternity hospital in Hyderabad. As her condition was deteriorating, the maternity hospital staff shifted her to another private hospital, where she was declared brought dead. The police have shifted the body to the government-run Osmania Hospital for an autopsy. The doctor who performed the "botched" abortion and the girl's lover Madhu were detained for questioning. The police were trying to find out if the hospital violated the guidelines by the Indian Medical Council and District Medical and Health Officer for abortions. Preliminary investigations revealed that Madhu had deposited Rs 20,000 with the hospital for aborting the five-month old pregnancy. Here are 7 FAQs on induced abortion or medical termination of pregnancy answered

What is botched abortion?

If you are wondering what is botched abortion, then here is what it means. Botched abortion means that the abortion has failed. And in this case, it was the woman who had to suffer the consequences. According to a 2007 study published in the journal BMJ [1], more than 66 000 women around the world die each year because of a botched abortion. Another research study of 2009 [2] revealed that around 68,000 women die of unsafe abortion annually, making it one of the leading causes of maternal mortality (13%). And not just this, in fact, that woman who tends to survive unsafe abortion are known to suffer from long-term health complications, which accounts to 5 million. Hence, it is very important to follow safe abortion practices and follow the guidelines recommended by the Government as unsafe abortion is a pressing issue, which needs to be addressed to lower the maternal mortality rate. You may also like to read about what is an incomplete abortion?

With inputs from IANS

References:

1.Cole A.botchedhed abortions kill more than 66,000 women each year. BMJ. 2007 Oct 27;335(7625):845. PubMed PMID: 17962262; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2043456.

2. Haddad LB, Nour NM. Unsafe abortion: unnecessary maternal mortality. Rev Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Spring;2(2):122-6. PubMed PMID: 19609407; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2709326.

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