Muerte materna por aborto inseguro como falla del primer nivel de atención

Fernanda Lozano; Salomé Fernández; Hugo Rodríguez Almada

Authors

Fernanda Lozano Uruguay, Administración de los Seguros Sociales por Enfermedad-Ministerio de Salud Pública, Médica de Área de Montevideo
Salomé Fernández Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Toxicología, Asistente
Hugo Rodríguez Almada Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Medicina Legal, Profesor Agregado

Abstract

As in other countries where abortion is illegal, complications from unsafe abortion are the main cause of maternal death in Uruguay (1,2).
This motivated the development of an original health program called Health Initiatives against unsafe abortion (ISCAR), whose objective is to reduce maternal mortality through the strategy of informing users about the alternatives to abortion and the risks inherent to the different abortive methods, in addition to favoring the early recruitment of women who interrupt pregnancy. The confidentiality of pre and post abortion consultations is guaranteed, as corresponds to professional ethics and current legal regulations (3). The original thing about ISCAR is that it promotes the intervention of the health system for the benefit of women, in the current legal framework, according to which induced abortion is a crime in most cases. This Uruguayan model of intervention against unsafe abortion was complemented by the Guidelines for the institutional practice of abortion by medical-legal indication, an instrument that seeks to encourage abortions contemplated in the law to be practiced safely in the institutional settings authorized by the law. health authority (4).

References

(1) Faúndes A, Barzelatto J. El drama del aborto. En busca de un consenso. Bogotá: Tercer Mundo, 2005.
(2) Briozzo L, Vidiella G, Vidarte B, Ferreiro G, Pons J, Cuadro J. El aborto provocado en condiciones de riesgo emergente sanitario en la mortalidad materna en Uruguay. Situación actual e iniciativas médicas de protección materna. Rev Méd Uruguay 2002; 18(1): 4-13.
(3) Uruguay. Ministerio de Salud Pública. Asesoramiento para una maternidad segura. Medidas de protección frente al aborto provocado en condiciones de riesgo. (Ordenanza 369/2004). Montevideo: MSP, 2004.
(4) Rodríguez Almada H, Berro Rovira G. Pautas para la práctica Institucional del aborto por indicación médico-legal. Rev Méd Uruguay 2006; 22(2): 157-61.
(5) Ciganda C, Laborde A. Herbal infusions used for induced abortion. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol 2003; (3): 235-9.