Background & Objectives: Observations show that the majority of women referring to hospitals to terminate their pregnancy in the third trimester have not initiated uterine contractions. Regarding the importance of infant-mother health and unnecessary cesarean section, the present research was conducted to determine the causes of pregnancy termination in the third trimester and its association with the fate of mother and fetus in Shahrekord in 2005.
Materials & Methods: In this cross - sectional study 750 pregnant women who had been hospitalized to terminate pregnancy in the third trimester were selected randomly in three morning, afternoon and night shifts. Data collection tools were questionnaires and checklists which were completed through original examination of the patients, file study, interview with mother, and postnatal examination of the infant. The fate of infant and mother was determined through the type of delivery , pregnancy age and infant weight. The data were then classified and analysed using SPSS software, t-test, 2 and Pearson correlation coefficient.
Results: 298 ( 39.7%) of mothers referred to the hospital due to labor pain and 452 (60.3%) of them were advised to terminate their pregnancy by the physician. 23.2% of the above-mentioned patients had been hospitalized due to the causes such as previous cesarean section, a tendency toward cesarean, and mother – infant problems during the pregnancy. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between the cause of pregnancy termination and type of delivery after exclusion of repeated cesarean section cases and tendency toward cesarean, and the patients advised by the physician had undergone more cesarean section (P=0.001). Pregnancy age in the group advised by a physician for hospitalization was more than the group who had been hospitalized due to labor pain (P=0.003). Infant weight had no significant difference in two groups.
Conclusion: Elective termination prior to labor pain can enhance the risk of cesarean section. Taking precise pregnancy history, performing sonography in the first 26 weeks, gestation and training the pregnant women the time of referring to hospital can prevent termination of pregnancy.