Correlates of Induced and Spontaneous Abortion in India: Empirical Evidence From NFHS-4

Rati Parihar , International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Women’s access to safe abortion services is essential to safeguard their health and is one of the important components of Reproductive and Child Health Programme. Despite the liberalization of abortion services since early 1970s, access to safe abortion services remains limited for vast majority of Indian women, particularly in rural areas. This paper synthesises recent evidence on induced and spontaneous abortion scenario and identifies the important factors responsible for it in India and its major states where induced and spontaneous abortion is high. The study shows that in Orissa, Assam Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala where percentage of induced abortion is high, number of living sons, reproductive tract infections, women’s age, message about prevention of sex selection and contraceptive use are major determinants of induced abortion while age at marriage, educational qualification, age at first birth and death of children are the strong determinants of spontaneous.

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 Presented in Session 10. Fertility, Family Planning, Sexual Behavior & Reproductive Health 2