Second Trimester Abortion
Given the high rate of unintended pregnancy in both the developed and developing world as well as the increasing use of prenatal diagnosis to diagnose anomalies in mid trimester it is unlikely that second-trimester abortion will soon join medical history's dust heap - Cassing Hammond MD
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HWN Suggests
Recent advances in second-trimester abortion: an evidence-based review
More than 20 years ago, Dr Elizabeth B. Connell, a contributing author in the text Second Trimester Abortion: Perspectives after a Decade of Experience wrote “…there is no reason, logically speaking, that second-trimester abortion should not join bubonic plague and poliomyelitis as practically historic medical conditions.” Dr Connell1 predicted that within the coming decade the use of more effective contraceptives and increased access to first-trimester abortion would make second-trimester abortion obsolete–a “therapeutic memory” rather than a “medical reality.” Now, > 2 decades later, her vision seems no more probable than the end of poverty, hunger, or taxes. Second-trimester abortion comprises…
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Second Trimester Abortion
Use of medication or mechanical techniques to dilate the cervix, followed by the use of grasping forceps to remove the fetus... Induction may also be used to achieve abortion, however this is less-cost effective, takes more time, and is more associated with complications. Generally, this is achieved through similar techniques for cervical ripening to labor induction -- mechanical dilators or balloon catheters, misoprostol, and oxytocin.
Articles of Interest
For Second-Trimester Abortion, Women Given Misoprostol Vaginally Report the Greatest Satisfaction
When a fetal anomaly causes a woman to seek a second-trimester abortion, oral administration of misoprostol appears to be the least effective method for terminating the pregnancy, and vaginal misoprostol administration the most acceptable to women.
Second-trimester pregnancy termination: Induction (medication) termination
Second-trimester pregnancy termination may be performed with medication or surgery. Surgical termination, or dilation and evacuation (D&E), requires dilating the cervix followed by surgical extraction of products of conception. Medication termination, or induction abortion, involves the administration of medication through one of a variety of routes to induce labor and deliver the fetus. Both methods are safe and effective, and each offers different advantages and disadvantages.
