Friday, July 20, 2018

Essential Facts About Abortion In Canada

By Dorothy Snyder


Abortion refers to termination of pregnancy before it reaches viability, usually between twenty four and twenty eight weeks. The termination can either occur spontaneously or can be induced. Spontaneous abortion is a result of many factors, both anatomical and acquired. In the event that abortion is induced, care should be taken to prevent complications. These are some of the essential facts about abortion in Canada.

Miscarriages are usually caused by anatomical defects of the female reproductive system. Cervical incompetence, CI, is among the commonest occurs. This means that the cervix is not strong enough to sustain the pressure of the enlarging amniotic sac and its contents.

In cervical incompetence, the tissues are too weak to bear the weight of the fully expanded amniotic sac. As such, the cervix propels the sac contents before the pregnancy even becomes viable. Typically, women with CI experience miscarriages at around the fourteenth week of pregnancy. In milder forms, the water first breaks followed by bleeding. However, in extreme cases, the pregnancy is lost as a whole in one single episode.

The function of the cervix can get compromised when instruments are inserted into the reproductive tract too often. This can happen when women have frequent checkups of their system for one reason or another. Instrumentation may also be needed during assisted vaginal delivery. In other cases, cervical incompetence comes about due to congenital causes.

CI can also come about due to what is medically termed precipitate labour, in which case delivery of occurs within a very short time from the time the woman goes into labour. Precipitate labour can result in cervical tears because the tissues become exposed to too much tension and have no time to adjust or adapt. Multiple pregnancies also predispose cervical tissues to future incompetence because of a similar tension mechanism.

Missed abortions are those that occur without awareness of the woman carrying the pregnancy. They are missed because the contents get retained within the uterus, despite having lost signs of life. Signs that could indicate a missed abortion include a gradually contracting fundus. On examination, the abdominal size is usually smaller than what is expected for the given gestational age.

Ultrasound examination usually reveals a lifeless being within the amniotic sac. Missed abortions are commonly caused by certain maternal infections some of which include toxoplasmosis, chlamydia and syphilis. It is prudent for pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics to ensure any infections are detected early and treated as appropriate. The mother needs to be counselled in order to cope with the loss of their growing fetus. All the products of conception should be aspirated as soon as possible to avoid complications.

Care after abortion is paramount to prevent occurrence of infection which is among the commonest complications. Induced abortions need to be done under sterile conditions. Prophylactic antibiotics should be administered to reduce the chance of infection.




About the Author:



No comments :

Post a Comment