Current trends in therapeutic termination of pregnancy

Abstract

The experience of The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, with therapeutic termination of pregnancy in the years 1953–1964 is reviewed. In this interval, the over-all incidence of therapeutic termination of pregnancy rose from 61 to 99 per 10,000 deliveries. While the incidence of therapeutic termination for medical indications (12 per 10,000 deliveries) and for “genetic” indications (18 per 10,000 deliveries) remained stable, there has been an increasing incidence for psychiatric indications (from 24 to 56 per 10,000 deliveries). Where the indications for therapeutic termination of pregnancy were clearly defined (as in medical or psychiatric cases), there was no difference in incidence between ward and private patients. In areas where psychoemotional and/or social aspects of a disease process weighed heavily in the recommendation for therapeutic termination of pregnancy (as with “genetic” indications or in cases of malignancy), there was a significant and consistent difference in incidence in favor of the private over the ward patient.