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News/Event Item
The Deadly Toll of Abortion by Amateurs
June 1, 2009
By Denise Grady
A handwritten ledger at the hospital tells a grim story. For the month of January, 17 of the 31 minor surgical procedures here were done to repair the results of "incomplete abortions." A few may have been miscarriages, but most were botched operations by untrained, clumsy hands.
More than half a million women a year die during pregnancy and in childbirth, largely from problems that can be treated or prevented. This is the second of three articles on efforts to lower the death rate in one African country, Tanzania.
Abortion is illegal in Tanzania (except to save the mother's life or health), so women and girls turn to amateurs, who may dose them with herbs or other concoctions, pummel their bellies or insert objects vaginally. Infections, bleeding and punctures of the uterus or bowel can result, and can be fatal. Doctors treating women after these bungled attempts sometimes have no choice but to remove the uterus.
© 2009 The New York Times Company
For full article, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/health/02abort.html
category: News from Other Sources : General Health News
contributed by Liza Nanni on 3 June 2009
Africa :
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