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Medical Video: How Dangerous Are Abortions For Women?
Based on data from a joint study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Guttmacher Institute, one in four pregnancies in the world ends each year in abortion. Abortion rates in the country itself are still quite high. BKKBN (National Population and Family Planning Agency) notes that abortion cases in Indonesia can reach 2.4 million per year.
Whatever the reason, abortion is not an easy decision to make. But whether it's an abortion through an official medical route or under the hand, there is always the potential risk of complications and the effects of abortion that you should be aware of. Some of them can have fatal consequences.
What are the effects of abortion that might occur?
There are countless numbers of academic evidence that reports the potential effects of abortions that damage the body. Common and immediate post-abortion side effects include abdominal pain and cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and blood spots. Beyond this, the effects of abortion can cause more dangerous problems. About 10 percent of abortion patients suffer from immediate complications, and a fifth include life-threatening cases.
So it is important to be aware of what serious abortion effects might arise. Most of the side effects of developing abortions take a long time and may not appear for days, months, or even years. Side effects of severe abortion require medical assistance as soon as possible.
1. Severe vaginal bleeding
Severe bleeding as a result of serious abortion is generally accompanied by high fever and clots of fetal tissue from the uterus. Severe bleeding is reported in 1 in 1000 abortion events.
Heavy bleeding can mean:
- The presence of blood clots / tissues larger than golf balls
- Lasts for 2 hours or more
- Heavy blood flow that requires you to change pads more than 2 times in one hour, for 2 consecutive hours
- Heavy bleeding for 12 consecutive hours
Both spontaneous, medical and illegal abortions (with illegally obtained abortion drugs or other "alternative" methods) can cause severe bleeding. Extremely severe vaginal bleeding can lead to death, especially if the abortion is done illegally with a standard method.
2. Infection
Infection is the effect of abortion that occurs in 1 in every 10 cases. In a meta-analysis of the issue of the Lancet journal that looked at 1,182 cases of medical abortion under the close supervision of a hospital doctor's team, 27 percent of patients had an infection that lasted 3 days or more as an effect of abortion.
Infection occurs because the cervix will widen during the process of abortion-induced abortion (both prescription and obtained from the black market). This then causes bacteria from the outside to enter easily into the body, triggering severe infections in the uterus, fallopian tubes and pelvis.
Signs of infection after abortion include symptoms that arise similar to standard diseases, such as headaches, muscle aches, dizziness, or the sensation of "not feeling well" in general. High fever is another example of symptoms of infection after an abortion, although not infrequently cases of infection that are not accompanied by fever. Immediately visit a doctor if you experience a high fever (above 38ºC) after an abortion that is accompanied by severe stomach and back pain so you have difficulty standing up, and abnormal vaginal odor.
3. Sepsis
In most cases, infections remain in one particular area (uterus, for example). However, in more severe cases, bacterial infections enter your bloodstream and travel throughout the body. This is called sepsis. And when the infection attacks your body, it gets worse and causes blood pressure to drop very low, this is referred to as septic shock. Sepsis shock after abortion is an emergency condition.
There are two main factors that can play an important role in increasing your risk of sepsis and in the end, septic shock after abortion: imperfect abortion (the remaining tissue pieces of pregnancy are still trapped in the body after an abortion) and bacterial infection of the uterus during abortion (either through surgery or independently.
If you have just had an abortion and experience the following symptoms, get medical attention immediately:
- Body temperature is very high (above 38ºC) or very low
- Heavy bleeding
- Severe pain
- Pale arms and legs, also feels cold
- Dazed sensation, confusion, anxiety, or fatigue
- Shaking shivering
- Low blood pressure, especially when standing
- Inability to urinate
- The heart beats fast and hard; heart palpitations
- Difficulty breathing, shallow breathing with shortness of breath
4. Damage to the uterus
Uterine damage occurs in around 250 out of a thousand cases of surgical abortion and 1 in a thousand in cases of drug abortion (prescription and non-prescription) carried out at 12-24 weeks' gestation.
Uterine damage includes damage to the cervix, perforation (perforation) of the uterus, and torn wounds in the uterus (laceration). But most of this damage can be undiagnosed and untreated unless the doctor performs laparoscopic visualization.
The risk of uterine perforation increases in women who have previously given birth and for those who receive general anesthesia at the time of abortion. The risk of cervical damage will be greater in adolescents who have their own abortion in the second trimester, and when abortion practitioners fail to insert laminaria for cervical dilation.
5. Pelvic inflammatory infection
Pelvic inflammatory infection (PID) is a disease that can increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy and reduce women's fertility in the future. This condition is potentially life threatening. About 5% of women who are not infected by other infections before pregnancy and during abortion can develop PID within 4 weeks after abortion in the first trimester.
The risk of PID is increased in cases of spontaneous abortion because of the chance for pregnancy tissue to be trapped in the uterus and the risk of severe bleeding. Both are good media for bacterial growth; In addition, in women who have moderate to severe anemia from the start, further blood loss will increase the chance of infection. In induced abortions (both legal and illegal), instruments and external manipulation also increase the chance of infection.
6. Endometritis
Endometritis is an inflammatory condition in the lining of the uterus, and is usually due to infection. Endometritis is the risk of the effects of abortion that may occur in all, but more especially for adolescents. Young women are reported to be 2.5 times more likely to experience endometritis after abortion than women ages 20-29.
Untreated infections can cause complications in the reproductive organs, fertility problems, and other general health problems.
7. Cancer
Women who have once had an abortion face a 2.3 times higher risk of cervical cancer than women who have never had an abortion. Women who have had two or more abortions have an increased risk of up to 4.92.
The increased risk of ovarian cancer and liver cancer is also associated with single and multiple abortions. An increase in post-abortion cancer may be caused by an abnormal hormonal disorder during pregnancy and untreated cervical damage or an increase in stress and the negative effects of stress on the immune system.
While that is inversely proportional to the myths of society, there is no connection between abortion and an increased risk of breast cancer.
8. Death
Severe bleeding, severe infection, pulmonary embolism, failed anesthesia, and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy are some of the main causes of maternal abortion-related deaths within a week after.
A 1997 study in Finland reported that abortion women were four times more at risk of dying from health conditions the following year than women who continued their pregnancies until they were old enough. The study also found that women who had an abortion had a greater increased risk of death from suicide and as victims of murder (by family members and partners), than women who continued to become pregnant for up to 9 months.
It is important to understand that a number of effects of abortion above are rare and some risks also appear to be similar to complications of childbirth. The important thing is that you realize the risks while you are trying to make important decisions about your pregnancy.
