Socio-demographic characteristics of 5846 women undergoing sterilization in hospitals and 1752 women undergoing sterilization in camps in India are analyzed. The average age of women accepting sterilization was 29.8 years; the mean number of living children was 4.2. Women sterilized in hospitals were of significantly higher age and parity than those sterilized in camps. The mean parity for all women was 4.6. A steep increase in median parity was observed with increasing age in both hospitals and camps. The study indicates that, while the level of education may affect acceptance of sterilization, there is no minimum level of education necessary for its acceptance. Most of the women in the study were not gainfully employed. As expected most of the women were Hindus. Muslims were underrepresented in the hospital series; in camps, however, Muslims showed a much higher rate of acceptance of sterilization. The rate of pregnancy wastage was significantly higher in the hospital and the child loss rate was significantly higher for the camp cases. While the rate of previous abortions was higher for low parity women, the child loss rate was higher for high parity women. The child loss parity ratio was significantly higher for the camps than for the hospital cases. The vast majority of women in both hospitals and camps reported no previous contraceptive practice. Sterilization appears to have been the method of choice for most of these women.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A comparative study of the tubal ring applied via minilaparotomy and laparoscopy in postabortion cases.

Sterilization with tubal rings applied via minilaparotomy or laparoscopy was performed on 300 randomly selected postabortion subjects to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the two surgical methods. One hundred and forty-nine procedures were performed by minilaparotomy and 151 by laparoscopy. Gas leakage due to equipment problems was the most common technical difficulty during laparoscopy, and difficulty in exteriorizing the tubes was the most common surgical difficulty. Women undergoing laparoscopy experienced significantly less pain during surgery and had significantly lower rates of immediate and early postoperative complications than those women undergoing minilaparotomy. The rates of gynecologic abnormalities at six and 12 months were similar for both procedures. At this writing, no pregnancies have been reported among the study subjects. The results of our study indicate that laparoscopy is superior to minilaparotomy when it is performed in a controlled hospital situation.

Abortion, Induced↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Midtrimester abortion with prostaglandin and hypertonic saline--a comparative study.

This study was conducted in Baroda, India, to evaluate and compare the safety and effectiveness of intraamniotic prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) and 20% saline augmented with intravenous oxytocin for terminating 200 pregnancies of 14 to 20 weeks' gestation. While there was no method failure among the group treated with saline, ten method failures were reported for patients treated with the PGF2alpha. The rate of incomplete abortions was significantly lower for the group treated with saline (19.4%) than it was for the group treated with the PGF2alpha (33.7%). The administration of oxytocin after fetal expulsion did not reduce the rate of incomplete abortion. The mean instillation-to-abortion time was significantly lower with saline than with PGF2alpha. The incidence of gastrointestinal side effects and excessive bleeding (less than 200 ml) during the procedure was significantly higher for patients treated with PGF2alpha than for those treated with saline.

Abortion, Induced↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Birth weight, gestational age and other indices of fetal maturity.

A number of indices for evaluating the maturity of the newborn were studied. Indices of anthropometric, anatomic, reflex and physiologic development were examined to evaluate their association with birth weight and gestational age; the validity of these diagnostic indices is discussed. Studies are recommended to establish a maturity score to identify high-risk infants at birth.

Anthropometry↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Female sterilization in small camp settings in rural India.

In an effort to provide female sterilization services in areas that lack modern surgical facilities and highly trained personnel, while avoiding the high complication rates associated with mass sterilization programs, small sterilization camps were held at six rural primary health centers (PHCs) in the Baroda District, Gujarat, India, beginning in 1972. Data collected for 2,009 women undergoing sterilization by the Pomeroy technique at these camps showed an operative and immediate postoperative complication rate of 2.1% and an early postoperative complication rate of 6.7%. These rates compare well with those found in sterilization series performed in modern, well equipped urban settings, further demonstrating that the small camp is an appropriate facility for female sterilization in rural India.

Adult↗