CAUSES OF INDUCED ABORTION IN MARRIED WOMEN OF DISTRICT TURBAT OF BALUCHISTAN, PAKISTAN

Objective: To determine the causes of induced abortion in married women of the Turbat district of Baluchistan. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted from December 2021 to February 2022, involved 276 married women between the ages of 18 and 45 who had at least one child. Convenient sampling was used to recruit participants, and interviews were used to collect data. Questionnaires about socioeconomic status, contraceptive use, and induced abortion were used to collect this biographical information. The study's statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v.20.0. Results: According to the participants, 13.40% of those interviewed had at least one induced abortion. The main causes of these abortions were unexpected pregnancy (35.13%), having more than one child (35.13%), contraceptive failure (21.62%), and poverty (8.10%). Over 72.97% of women who had undergone induced abortion were aged below 39 years, and half of them (54.05%) had more than five children. The study also revealed that almost all of the women who had abortions were unemployed. Conclusion: The study found unexpected pregnancies, contraceptive failure, and socioeconomic issues in district Turbat as causes of induced abortions. It highlights the importance of addressing the dynamics of induced abortion in Pakistan through legislative reforms and improved family planning education and services. The results encourage culturally and religiously appropriate policies and programs that empower women through reproductive health awareness and family planning. Keywords: Induced Abortion, Married Women, Contraceptive Failure, Unplanned Pregnancy, Socio-Economic Factors, Reproductive Health, Family Planning