Sudden miscarriages leave emotional trauma

Hyderabad: Women who underwent sudden miscarriages or spontaneous abortions showed signs of distress, depression and post-traumatic stress, according to a study carried out in Gandhi Medical College and Hospital. The study was published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry.

The study was funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research. There is a very limited amount of literature available on the impact of abortions on mental health.

Some 100 women who had undergone elective and spontaneous abortions were interviewed in the study.

Those who had undergone an elective abortion showed less distress as they had the time to be mentally prepared.

Those who had spontaneous abortions in the second trimester, or those who had miscarriages at a later stage, showed greater signs of distress and of post-traumatic stress.  

Dr Rajshekar Bipeta, an associate professor of psychiatry in the department of psychiatry at Gandhi Medical College, who was a part of the study, observed that mothers who had late abortions, after the foetus had grown, showed severe distress.  

Some 28.3 per cent of the women in the study had miscarriages and 32 per cent had therapeutic abortions. Both these categor-ies aborted at a late stage and suffered post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Dr Sameera Kotta, psychiatrist in the department of psychiatry at Gandhi Medical College, explained, “The symptoms of PTSD are found to develop after a month or even three months. The women experienced difficulty in sleeping, were frightened, had bad thoughts had flashbacks of the abortion and miscarriage event. Those who continued to suffer for more than a month required professional guidance to come out of it.”

In most cases, the problem came in terms of difficulty in sleeping, not being confident, not being willing to mix with friends and problems at home with sudden outbursts of anger and picking constant quarrels, it said.

• The study suggests that women who undergo therapeutic abortions for medical reasons must be counselled, so they can come back for help if required.  
• Family members must be counselled to opt for vasectomy rather than tubectomy so that the women do not have to undergo recurrent elective abortions.
• While recuperating in hospital, women who have undergone abortions must not be kept in the same room with women who have delivered.