RISK FACTORS OF ABORTION AMONG MULTIPAROUS WOMEN IN MOSUL CITY

Background: Abortion is the force or spontaneous removal of an embryo or fetus before it achieves a stable phase of life. Assessing abortion risk factors helps pinpoint areas for improvement in health care for pregnant women, particularly those who are at high risk for having an abortion. Aim of the study: Determine the risk factors of abortion among multiparous women and to suggest some methods for controlling certain risk factors if possible. Patients and Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Mosul teaching hospitals for obstetrics and gynecology including a total of 300 pregnant women; 150 cases and 150 controls multiparous women with a documented pregnancy by pregnancy test and/or ultrasonography presented with any type of abortion. Results: A significant positive relationship was recorded between the age group of (36-40), (>40), and abortion in multiparous women. In terms of gravidity, most cases were pregnant five or more times, while most of the controls were pregnant three times. For history of previous abortion most cases had two or more abortions, while most controls did not have any previous abortion. The inter-pregnancy interval observed in most cases had less than one year, while most of controls had more than or equal to one year. Regarding outcomes, most cases lost their child while most controls had successful delivery, In terms of antenatal care, most cases visited the hospital 1-4 times while most controls visited more than or equal to 4 times. Most cases had a history of bleeding, while most controls did not have that. Most cases were with a gestational age less than 13 weeks while all the controls were with a gestational age more than or equal to 13 weeks (100%). 49.3 % of the cases had trauma followed by fever, TORCH, drug and anti- phospholipid syndrome while most controls had a fever (6.7%) followed by drug, anti- phospholipid syndrome and trauma. Conclusion: Study showed that increased gravidity and parity, short inter-pregnancy interval, bad previous obstetrical history, previous fetal congenital malformations, medical illnesses and advanced age are all linked with increased risk of miscarriage among multiparous women.