| Abstract: | An obstetrical practice based at a university hospital in Jerusalem has studied the offspring of 9,894 women who were pregnant at least once during the years 1966 through 1968, and discovered that the neonatal mortality rate was 2 to 3 times higher in infants born to women who reported a previous induced abortion. Among the women studied, 7.2% reported at least 1 previous abortion; immigrants from South Africa tended to have the highest rate of abortion, whereas the lowest rate was observed in the Arab population. An inverse relationship was detected between a history of induced abortion and the following: the degree of religious observance; maternal age at the time of marriage; and maternal age at the time of past deliveries. A positive correlation was observed between a history of induced abortion and the present age of the mother; smoking; Caesarian section; bleeding during pregnancy; vomiting during pregnancy; and the use of medications during the 1st trimester of the present pregnancy. The women in this study delivered a total of 11,057 infants between 1966 and 1968; infants born to mothers who reported a previous induced abortion experienced a higher neonatal mortality rate and were more likely to be low birth-weight infants, when compared to the group of infants whose mothers did not report a previous induced abortion. |
