Epidemiological Study of Legal Abortion due to Fetal Defects in the Files Referred to Fars Province Forensic Medicine Centers from 2007 to 2013

Background Sometimes the fetus suffers some abnormalities that damage its physical and mental growth. There have already been some indications for legal abortion and in fact, since 2005, some other conditions have been added in the Islamic republic of Iran under certain conditions. Objectives This study was aimed to study the fetal causes of legal abortion referred to the Fars province forensic medical centers from 2007 to 2013. Methods This is a descriptive-analytic retrospective study. The subjects included are the cases referred to the forensic medicine centers in Shiraz, Iran, during the years of 2007 and 2013. There were 1,664 samples in total and the sampling was done upon census. The variables of demography, midwifery, mother’s disease, fetal disease and reasons for abortion were considered in the checklist of the questionnaires. The gathered data was analyzed by SPSS, version 16. Results The highest frequency of abortion was observed and 31.5% related to mothers between the ages of 25-30. In 79.6% of the cases, abortion certificates were issued for fetal causes, 35.25% for thalassemia major and 23.4% for neural system congenital disorders. Consanguineous marriage accounted for 60.8% of abortion cases and 83.42% had an abortion before the fourth month of their pregnancy. Furthermore, in about16.58% of the cases, an abortion certificate was issued for mother’s distress and constrictions. Approximately 36.75% of the couples had a family history of thalassemia and 17.65% of them already had a child with congenital abnormality. Conclusions The most frequent causes of fetal abortion licenses were due to the thalassemia and congenital malformations of the nervous system.