The outcome of pregnancies subsequent to induced and spontaneous abortion.

A study was made of 8982 women who were admitted for delivery over a four-year period to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Of the 5682 women who had had more than one pregnancy, 14.5% admitted a history of one or more abortions (spontaneous or induced). Of the whole series, 8.8% admitted having had one or more induced abortions. Patients with prior abortions were compared with selected controls, and maternal characteristics were standardized between the two groups. Undesirable outcomes of subsequent pregnancy, such as low birth weight, premature delivery, stillbirth, neonatal death, miscarriage or congenital malformation, did not seem to increase in patients with histories of abortions.