Medical Termination of Pregnancy beyond 24 Weeks’ Gestation in India: Reasons and Outcomes from a Tertiary Care Centre
摘要
In 2021, the Government of India amended the “Medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) act, 1971”, increasing the legal limit of gestational age (GA) from 20 to 24 weeks. We present data of 51 women who underwent MTP beyond the GA of 24 weeks. This study includes a retrospective analysis of 51 consecutive women who underwent MTP beyond the GA of 24 weeks from July 2023 to April 2024 after getting the necessary permission from the permanent medical board for abortion (beyond GA of 24 weeks) of our institute. The reason for the delayed presentation was ascertained by detailed interviews and the review of medical records. The MTP was conducted as per standard protocol. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee (INT/IEC/2025/SPL-1175, dated 17 October 2025). The mean age was 27.4 ± 4.4 years. The mean (± SD) GA at MTP was 28.2 (± 2) weeks. 38 (74.5%) women were multigravida and 5 (9.8%) women had two living children. All women underwent MTP for fetal malformation with neural anomalies being the most common (43.1%). Aneuploidy screen and amniocentesis was done in 15 (29.4%) and 12 (23.5%) women respectively. The mean GA at the time of level 2 ultrasonography was 23 ± 1.5 weeks. The delayed referral was due to patient related factors in 12 (23.5%), and due to late referral or late ultrasonography in 34 (66.7%) women. None of the woman was aware of the MTP Act. Despite allowing MTP up to 24 weeks of GA in India, some women do seek MTP beyond 24 weeks due both to personal and other reasons.