title: Profile of women seeking medical termination of pregnancy in South India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the demographic and obstetric profile of women seeking medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) in South India in accordance with the MTP Act of India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A registry-based retrospective study was carried out at a tertiary care teaching hospital in South India. The hospital records of all pregnant women seeking MTP over a 2-year period between January 2011 and December 2012 were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 244 women underwent MTP during the study period. More than one-third (37.8%) were aged between 26 and 30 years. The majority of women underwent MTP during the first trimester (79.5%). Medical reasons were cited as the most common reason for undergoing MTP (39.3%), followed by unplanned pregnancy (34.8%). The majority of women were seeking MTP for the first time (84.8%). More than half of the women (52.9%) opted for post-MTP contraception.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MTP for unplanned pregnancy can be prevented if people are well informed about methods of contraception. MTP is an opportunity for healthcare professionals to discuss fertility needs and need for contraception with women seeking MTP so that appropriate decisions can be taken for suitable family planning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India. Electronic address: 13rameshholla@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Holla
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Tanuj
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanchan
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Bhaskaran
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Unnikrishnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Mangalore Shashidhar
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kotian
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Nithin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Rekha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thapar
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Prasanna
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mithra
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Mohan Kumar
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Papanna
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Vaman
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Bhagawan Bhagyamma
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Darshan
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Contraception; Induced abortion; Medical termination of pregnancy; South India