title: Reducing maternal mortality due to elective abortion: Potential impact of misoprostol in low-resource settings.
abstract: Over 99% of deaths due to abortion occur in developing countries. Maternal deaths due to abortion are preventable. Increasing the use of misoprostol for elective abortion could have a notable impact on maternal mortality due to abortion. As a test of this hypothesis, this study estimated the reduction in maternal deaths due to abortion in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The estimates were adjusted to changes in assumptions, yielding different possible scenarios of low and high estimates. This simple modeling exercise demonstrated that increased use of misoprostol, an option for pregnancy termination already available to many women in developing countries, could significantly reduce mortality due to abortion. Empirical testing of the hypothesis with data collected from developing countries could help to inform and improve the use of misoprostol in those settings.
authors.affiliation: Bixby Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. harper@obgyn.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blanchard
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grossman
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Darney
mesh_terms: D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality*; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D016595:Misoprostol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011247:Pregnancy; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters
chemical_list: D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal; D016595:Misoprostol