Population study for awareness about medical termination of pregnancy pills in population in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20251442Keywords:
Medical termination of pregnancy, MTP pills, Abortion pills, Self-medication, Abortion India, Unsafe abortion, Unsupervised MTP pillAbstract
Background: The present study was conducted as a home-based survey of 505 females in reproductive age group mainly in rural, semi urban and urban areas around Ahmedabad to identify the awareness about medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) pills in the population.
Methods: A home-based survey of 505 females in reproductive age group mainly in rural, semi urban and urban areas around Ahmedabad was done. Home visit was carried out by MBBS interns accompanied by ASHA workers.
Results: Among the population studied it was observed that termination of pregnancy by MTP pills was most commonly seen among women with previous 2 live children. Most of the women confirmed their pregnancy with a home based urine pregnancy kit. Majority of women have taken the pills as self-medication without any consultation with a qualified obstetrician, increasing not only the risk of complications like incomplete abortion and haemorrhage but also showing the poor status of drug regulations in the country.
Conclusions: Majority of women, have taken the pills as self-medication without any consultation with a qualified obstetrician. Out of the women who had taken the pills after prescription, most of them had gotten the prescription from a doctor while others women got the pills prescribed from a known medical professional. The study shows the easy availability of MTP pills in the market, however the knowledge about the use and side effects of these pills is not well understood.
Metrics
References
Hirve SS. Abortion law, policy and services in India: a critical review. Reprod Health Matters. 2004;12(24 Suppl):114-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0968-8080(04)24017-4
International consensus conference. Non-surgical (medical) abortion in early 1st trimester on issues related to regime and service delivery. Geneva, WHO. 2006.
Singh S, Shekhar C, Acharya R, Moore AM, Stillman M, Pradhan MR. The incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy in India, 2015. Lancet Global Health. 2017;6(11):111-20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30453-9
Thaker RV, Deliwala KJ, Shah PT. Self-medication of abortion pill: women’s Health in Jeopardy NHL J Med Sci. 2014:3(1):26-31.
Sarojini, Ashakiran TR, Bhanu BT, Radhika. Over the counter MTP pills and its impact on women’s health. J Obstet Gynaecol India. 2017;67(1):37-41.
Anjum D, Mehta S, Grover A, Mann A. Self-Medication for Abortion: Safety Issues. J Obstet Gynaecol India. 2017;67(5):382-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-017-1005-4
CMS. A Research Study to Understand the Awareness and Practices after the Amendment to the MTP Act, FRHS India. 2022. Available at: https://cmsindia.org/ node/1228. Accessed on 15 March 2025.
Kumari S, Kishore J. Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment Bill, 2021): Is it Enough for Indian Women Regarding Comprehensive Abortion Care?? Indian J Community Med. 2021;46(3):367-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_468_20
World Health Organisation. Unsafe abortion: global and regional estimates of the incidence of unsafe abortion and associated mortality in 2008, sixth edition. 2011. Available at: http://www.who.int/ reproductivehealth/publications/unsafe_abortion/9789241501118. Accessed on 15 March 2025.
Sarojini, Ashakiran TR, Bhanu BT, Radhika. Over-the-counter MTP Pills and Its Impact on Women's Health. J Obstet Gynaecol India. 2017;67(1):37-41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-016-0916-9
Cunningham FG, Leveno KJ, Bloom SL, Haulh JC, Gilstrap LC, Wenstrom KD, editors. Abortion. Williams Textbook of Obstetrics. 24th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2014;215-31.
World Health Organization. Unsafe abortion. Global and Regional Estimates of the Incidence of Unsafe Abortion and Associated Mortality in 2003. 2007. Available at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/han dle/10665/44529/9789241501118_eng.pdf;jsessionid=BE550AB599882C0EF486B92F7A06F5B8?sequence=1. Accessed on 15 March 2025.
FOGSI focus on Medial abortion. FOGSI-ICOG-GCPR guidelines (online) 2011. Available at: www.issuucom/fogsi/does/medicalabortion. Accessed on 15 March 2025.
Munshi KS, Thaker RV, Shah JM, Mewada BN. Self-medication of abortion pills and its complications: an observational study. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2018;7:205-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20175846
Goyal N, Goyal SK. Outcome of self administered medical abortion pills by patients. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2016;5:3740-2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20163711
Pal R, Gupta PK, Tyagi S, Palariya H, Vora V, Agarwal P. Determinants of Unsupervised Medical Termination of Pregnancy Pill Usage Among Women: A Cross-Sectional Study From North India. Cureus. 2023;15(11):e49321. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.49321