Some aspects of pregnancy terminations in a south Indian population.

The characteristics of pregnancy terminations among women in urban and rural areas of the Nroth Arcot District in South India during 1970 and 1971 are summarized. Of a total of 4194 pregnancy terminations in the rural sample and 3233 in the urban sample mutiple births were .7% and fetal deaths 27% 80% of fetal deaths occurred before Week 20 gestation. These figures were similar for both rural and urban women. Most deliveries occurred at home attended only by an untrained midwife. Prenatal care had been given to only 19% of rural women and 42.2% of urban women. Rural birth rate was 35.9 per 100 population; general fertility rate 185.5 per 1000. The rates for the urban area were 37.8 per 1000 and 154.4 per 1000. Peak fertility was in the 20-24 age group in rural areas and 25-29 age group for urban women. Nearly 40% of all live births were parity 4 or more. Gross and net reproductive rates were 2.3 and 1.7 respectively again similar for rural and urban women (p less than .01). Local women were trained to conduct the interviews. The study indicates areas needing more intensive family planning efforts.