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Study Shows One Abortion Ups Premature Birth Risk for Women by 36 Percent
A new study by a Canadian researcher finds that women who have just one abortion increase the risk of having a premature birth in a subsequent pregnancy by 36 percent. The research is the latest in a long string of studies confirming the link between abortion and premature birth.
With premature births leading to an assortment of physical and mental health problems for unborn children, the researcher says women should be told of the risk before having an abortion.
Dr. Prakesh Shah, a professor at the Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto is the main author of the new study, published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
He found that women who have just one abortion in either the first or second trimester of pregnancy, when abortions are most routinely performed, have a 35 percent increased risk of having a low-birth-weight baby in the next pregnancy and a 36 percent increased risk of having a baby born prematurely.
The risk substantially increases for the millions of women who have had more than one abortion and become pregnant.
In those cases, women having multiple abortions have a 93 percent increased risk of subsequently having a premature baby and a 72 percent increased risk of having an underweight baby.
Shah says that the reason for
the post-abortion problems in future births is likely because the
abortion can cause damage to the woman's cervix.
The Canadian pediatrician and medical professor told the London Daily
Mail that women need to be informed about these very real medical risks
from abortion.
"When a woman comes for induced termination of pregnancy, she should be
counseled about that risk. At least she will be able to make an
informed choice," he said.
"I think it should not be used as a way of saying, this is bad and we
should not be doing this kind of thing," he added. "There is an
association which we should be aware of, and we should let mothers be
aware."
The new research is an analysis of 37 studies around the world carried
out between 1965 and 2001 to determine whether a previous abortion has
any effect on subsequent births.
The new study follows on the heels of European researcher Dr Robbert
van Oppenraaij telling colleagues at the annual European Society of
Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting in Amsterdam that an abortion
increases the risk of having a premature birth in a subsequent
pregnancy.
He says one induced abortion raises the risk of premature birth in a next pregnancy by 20 percent.
Two or more abortions raises the risk by 90 percent and doubles the risk of a very premature birth, at 34 weeks or less.
"It can be concluded that a history of abortion is associated with an
increased risk for premature delivery and very premature delivery," he
said.
In February, another study confirmed the link between abortion and subsequent premature births when a woman is pregnant again.
Dr. Manfred Voigt led the study, published in the German medical magazine Z Geburtshilfe Neonatol.
According to the research, women who have one prior abortion boost
their risk for a very premature birth in a future pregnancy by 30
percent.
And last month, Roger W. Harms, M.D., a Mayo Clinic obstetrician and
medical editor-in-chief, said abortions can cause women problems with
subsequent pregnancies.
Harm says there are definitely cases when physicians see "an abortion cause problems in a subsequent pregnancy."
"During a surgical abortion, the fetus is removed from the uterus —
often with a vacuum device, a syringe or a spoon-shaped instrument with
a sharp edge (curette) — as an outpatient surgical procedure," Harms
explains.
In some cases, "a surgical abortion may weaken the cervix or cause scarring on the inside of the uterus."
"If such damage occurs, surgery may be needed to correct the problems
before a woman can conceive again or carry a subsequent pregnancy to
term," he said.
[September 16, 2009, Ertelt, Toronto, Canada, www.LifeNews.com, http://www.lifenews.com/int1321.html ]
Researcher: Study Showing Abortion-Premature Birth Risk Points to Cerebral Palsy
A Canadian researcher says a new study showing confirmation of the
link between abortion and premature birth is significantly important.
Brent Rooney says the new study from Dr. Prakesh Shah, a professor at
the Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, is a
meta-analysis.
That means Shah didn't conduct just one individual study but took a
look 37 published studies in medical journals conducted over the years
to find out an overall conclusion.
Shah's analysis found women who have just one abortion in either the
first or second trimester of pregnancy have a 35 percent increased risk
of having a low-birth-weight baby in the next pregnancy and a 36
percent increased risk of having a baby born prematurely.
Women having multiple abortions have a 93 percent increased risk of
subsequently having a premature baby and a 72 percent increased risk of
having an underweight baby.
Rooney talked with LifeNews.com and noted the impact of the Shah report.
''Suction' (vacuum aspiration) abortion was invented by doctors in
communist China and 'announced' to the world in 1958 in the Chinese
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology," he said. "Fifty years later the
British Medical Journal had that 1958 article translated into English."
"From 1958 to 2009 there has never been a 'study of studies' (termed
“meta-analysis") or systematic review" of the literature on the link
between abortion and premature birth.
He said the Shah meta-study showed "very strong evidence [that] the
most common induced abortion procedure, 'suction' abortion" has a "risk
of a later preterm birth or the low birth weight baby."
The practical impact is also important as Rooney's own research with
medical doctors from 2007 shows there were 1,096 newborn babies in the
United States born at a low birth-weight, and who developed cerebral
palsy, due to their mother's prior induced abortions.
The cerebral palsy link is important because "babies under 32 weeks'
gestation have 55 times the cerebral palsy risk as full-term (at least
37 weeks) newborns."
As a result, if abortions increase the risk of a low birth-weight baby
and low birth-weigh significantly contributes to an unborn child having
cerebral palsy, then the performance of abortions clearly results in
more children diagnosed with the condition.
Rooney also noted a small study of studies conducted by Dr. Hanes Swingle of the University of Southern Alabama in February.
"Swingle reported that women with prior induced abortions raised their
relative odds of a birth under 32 weeks' gestation by 64 percent," he
said. "Dr. Swingle and colleagues used data from four prior studies to
get that result."
Rooney agrees with Shah that "women should receive informed medical
consent about the abortion-premature birth risk of prior induced
abortions before the procedure is performed."
[September 17, 2009, Ertelt, Toronto, Canada, (LifeNews.com, http://www.lifenews.com/int1322.html ]
Second Abortion Increases Risk of Premature Babies: Canadian Study
A new Canadian study has shown that abortion increases the risk of future premature pregnancies and low birth-weight babies; however, the author has refused to say that abortion should be avoided, instead calling for improved abortion techniques.
Published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the Canadian researchers found that women who had undergone a first or second trimester of pregnancy, when most are conducted, increased the risk of low birth-weight babies and premature babies 35 and 36 per cent respectively.
Those women who had undergone multiple abortions had a 72 per cent increased risk for low birth weight and 93 per cent risk of prematurity.
The figures come from an analysis of 37 studies around the world, carried out between 1965 and 2001, to discover reasons why babies are born underweight and premature.
Far from recommending that women not have abortions, the lead author of the study, Dr. Prakesh Shah of the department of paediatrics at Mount Sinai hospital in Toronto, said that the solution is to improve abortion techniques.
However, "when a woman comes for induced termination of pregnancy, she should be counselled about that risk. At least she will be able to make an informed choice," he said.
Shah told media that he was fearful that "anti-abortion groups" would seize upon the study as proof of the damage abortion does to women.
"I think it should not be used as a way of saying, this is bad and we should not be doing this kind of thing. There is an association which we should be aware of, and we should let mothers be aware. I don't want unintended pregnancies to increase."
The Guardian newspaper reports that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists concurs. The RCOG spoke of the "importance of support for women's choices." "Abortion remains an essential part of women's healthcare services," they said.
Professor Philip Steer, editor in chief of BJOG, was also anxious that the study not be used by the pro-life movement. "The most important message is not that this should be used in any way to prevent women having a termination of pregnancy.
"The effect has to be balanced against the serious effects of forcing women to continue with unwanted pregnancies," he said. "Any medical procedure is likely to have side-effects."
Anthony Ozimic of Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) commented, however, that the evidence speaks for itself. "The more evidence which emerges about the harm abortion causes, the more the supporters of abortion insist that abortion not be restricted. We will be exposing the contradictions in their responses to the study's findings."
[September 17, 2009; Hilary White, www.LifeSiteNews.com; http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/sep/09091703.html]
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Abortion 
