MTP Indication

Factors affecting Psychological Responses:

MTP Indication:

In general, if the patient is seeking the abortion for an unwanted pregnancy, the psychological sequala is favorable. Also when the pregnancy is a result of rape or in an unmarried woman, the result of the MTP is likely to be psychological relief. However, when a patient undergoes MTP for fetal genetic or maternal medical reasons, the patient is likely to be deeply disappointed by her failure to achieve a wanted pregnancy.

Social Support:

A large majority of the patients requesting MTP in our country come from large joint family. The doctors have observed in their own practice that when such women undergo MTP with a full psychological support of their husbands and family members there incidence of negative psychiatric sequelae is minimal. On the contrary, woman undergoing social isolation tend to succumb to guilt feeling and adverse physiological reaction.

Gestational age at Termination:

2nd trimester abortion constitutes a high-risk group for potential physiological distress. One reason for this could be that the longer the duration of pregnancy the greater the chance the woman develops emotional bonding with the unborn fetus. The second reason is the nature of technical procedure involved in late MTP's.

Technical Procedure of MTP:

All first trimester MTP's involve the relatively quick procedure of suction and evacuation. On the other and, most procedures for 2nd trimester MTP involve subjecting the patients to a delivery procedure. In the general hospitals of out country, these women often abort in labor rooms in the vicinity of sounds of new born crying. These women definitely contribute a high-risk group for negative psychological sequelae.

The MTP decision Making Process:

The greater the difficulty a patient and her family undergoes in making a decision to terminate the pregnancy, the more likely will be the negative responses after termination. If a woman experiences doubt about terminating her pregnancy, she should be counseled patiently. Hasty decision-making can often lead to deep regret and subsequent depression or psychosis.

Compulsory Parenthood and Unwanted Child:

No discussion on the psychological aspect at MTP can be complete without emphasizing the major negative effects that can occur when a pregnancy is forced on a woman inspite of today's liberal abortion laws. This can occur due to emotional pressure from the husband or from the senior member of the family. This can also occur due to misconceptions about safety of modern legalized abortions or enforced religious and moral; values. Several studies have emphasized the long-term harm that can occur to women mental health as a result of unwanted and mandatory motherhood. One should also not forget the fate of unwanted children who tend to be physically and mentally impaired.

Female sex-related MTP's In India:

Inspite of Govt. legalization the efforts of social organization against the obnoxious practice, illegal sex determination and female fetus MTP continue to be carried out widely in out country. The doctors have come across several instances of severe adverse psychological reactions in women following repeated MTP's of this nature. Further studies are warranted to identify the factor related to this phenomenon and its physiological impact on women and on the society at large.