Pregnancy terminations, although a controversial topic of discussion, remain a significant choice for women of child-bearing age. People who choose it must be known the health risks endure, even if over 40 million procedures were performed worldwide in recent years.

Therefore, changes to methods that correspond with modern medicine have lessened the health risks endured by females who choose to end their pregnancies. Thus, the risks faced during subsequent pregnancies have diminished considerably.

Researchers found that there was a 15% growth in the odds of preterm birth linked with each preceding abortion. Remarkably, there was an 18% growth in the odds of spontaneous preterm birth for each previous abortion; however no connection between preceding abortion and the risk of induced preterm birth. Induced premature births were defined as those where there was either a recorded method of induction, or a prelabor caesarean section, or forcing of labor.

It is crucial to note changes in pregnancy termination technology between 1980 and now. Earlier, pregnancy terminations were surgical techniques in which a woman’s cervix was mechanically dilated and her unborn child is detached from her body. At present, the parts of fetuses are eliminated out from the body with abortion pills, also known as medical abortion. This type of procedure doesn’t harm women’s body.

Whereas, earlier surgical method posed great risk of damage to the woman’s cervical area, that reacts to hormones, to stay closed during a pregnancy to sustain it. A same risk faced by a woman’s womb, the place in which fetuses develop prior to birth; during a surgical method of pregnancy termination, damage can be suffered by this organ as well. Possible damage can have an effect on following pregnancies as the organs they need for appropriate development have been injured or damaged by the surgical abortion.

Introduction to medical abortion:

But, as the ways to manipulate biology became obvious, mechanical disruption of the cervix was gone long ago. In 1992, mechanically forced to open cervixes were stopped, however people use to buy misoprostol to use to dilate and soften cervixes as if the woman were actually delivering. This reduced a lot of stress and trauma to the organ during surgical abortions.

Likewise, in 2001, the function of the hormone progesterone in maintaining pregnancies was established by the researchers. This led to the improvement of Mifepristone pill, which would basically turn off the effect of progesterone in a woman who wished to end her pregnancy. The pills used in combination with the cervical-softening hormones, led to the advent of the medical abortion.

Pregnancy terminations through surgical method in the 1980s carried a 30% or greater risk for following preterm births. Medical abortion use increased from 18% to 68% from 1992-2008. Likewise, the surgical pregnancy terminations occurring without cervical preparation reduced significantly in the same time, from 31% to 0.4%.