Abstract

PIP: 62 cases of criminal abortion in the General Hospital of Ujung Pandang between January 1, 1972 and December 31, 1973 (2 years) are reported. The incidence of criminal abortion was 2.6%, mostly among mothers with para 4 and above. From the viewpoint of age and socioeconomic standards, 50% of the cases were 26-30 years old and 43.2% were low socioeconomic status. In the majority of cases (64.5%), the procedures were performed by Dujuns and the resultant complications were infection (41.9%) and hypovolemic shock (32.2%). 2 cases died because of sepsis, bringing the mortality rate to 3.2%. The dukun is the foremost criminal abortionist in Ujung Pandang. It seems that the intellectual family is more inclined to engage in criminal abortion than those who are not. In general, criminal abortion results in complications which need hospitalization. (Authors' modified)