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Very Low Birth‐Weight (< 1,500 g) and Previous Induced Abortion: Victoria 1982–1972
Author(s) -
PhD Judith Lumley MA MB BS
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-828x.1986.tb01585.x
Subject(s) - abortion , low birth weight , obstetrics , medicine , pregnancy , birth weight , gynecology , biology , genetics
Summary: In Victoria, previous termination of pregnancy is a risk factor for giving birth to a very low birth‐weight infant (<1,500 g) — the risk of giving birth to an infant less than 1,000 g is increased more than 2.5‐fold by a prior induced abortion and more than 3.5‐fold by 2 or more prior abortions. However, more than 97% of women with a prior termination gave birth to infants weighing more than 1,500 g. Subsequent very preterm delivery appears to be a real but rare complication of induced abortion, responsible for about 9% of very low birthweight infants in 1982–1983.