Induced Abortion in Nicaragua

Abstract

In poor countries, unsafe induced abortion is a serious public health problem. In Nicaragua, we know that it has occupied between the third and fourth place among the causes of maternal mortality, but its frequency has been little studied. For this purpose, and in order to know some characteristics of the women who practice it, the subject was included in three surveys on reproductive health, carried out in 1997, 2001 and 2005, in four departments: León, Chinandega, Managua and Rivas. In total, 16,511 women between 15 and 49 years of age were interviewed, selected through cluster sampling. A rate of 1.3 annual abortions per thousand women and a ratio of 1.2 abortions per hundred live births was found. With specific survey methodologies for this topic and especially through the use of indirect estimates, higher frequency figures can be expected. The frequency was higher in the capital of the country. It predominates in adult women, married or with a partner, and in women who have already had children. Women of all educational levels aborted. It is important to note that the high number of induced abortions occurs despite the fact that the law has always prohibited them.