Danish study reveals higher maternal death rates following abortion

Medical Science Monitor: Medical records for the entire population of women born in Denmark between 1962 and 1991 and were alive in 1980, were linked to death certificates. Mortality rates associated with first pregnancy outcomes (delivery, miscarriage, abortion, and late abortion) were calculated. Odds ratios examining death rates based on reproductive outcomes, adjusted for age at first pregnancy and year of women’s births, were also calculated. Results: A total of 463,473 women had their first pregnancy between 1980 and 2004, of whom 2,238 died. In nearly all time periods examined, mortality rates associated with miscarriage or abortion of a first pregnancy were higher than those associated with birth.

Commentary by the American Association of Pro-Life Ob/Gyns: 

A new study of the medical records for nearly half a million women in Denmark reveals significantly higher maternal death rates following abortion compared to delivery. This finding has confirmed similar large-scale population studies conducted in Finland and the United States, http://www.aaplog.org/complications-of-induced-abortion/induced-abortion-and-maternal-mortality/induced-abortion-and-natural-cause-maternal-death/ but contradicts the widely held belief that abortion is safer than childbirth. . . .

Why is this study important?

1) Record-based studies provide complete reproductive history data for all residents. There are very few record-based studies of mortality risks associated with reproductive loss available in the published literature. Without data-linkage to complete reproductive histories (as in this study), results are highly unreliable as prior research suggests as many as 73% of all pregnancy associated deaths are not apparent from death certificates.

2) This study eliminates the potential confounding effect of unknown prior pregnancy history by examining mortality rates associated with first pregnancy outcome alone.

3) No previous record-based studies have compared early induced abortions to later abortions. There is consensus that late-term abortions are associated with more physiological risks and higher rates of maternal mortality in the short term compared to early abortions. However, longer term mortality risks have not been previously examined with record-based data.

From the Eliot Institute: Finding confirms similar large-scale population studies in Finland and US; contradicts widely held belief abortion safer than childbirth
'via Blog this'