Key clinical point: Majority of women undergoing medical termination of pregnancy (MTOP) for fetal anomaly at ≥20 weeks’ gestation had successful unassisted deliveries, but a quarter had common or severe morbidities, with the most common morbidities being postpartum hemorrhage and manual removal of retained placental tissue.
Major finding: Overall, 99.0% of women undergoing MTOP for fetal anomaly at ≥20 weeks' gestation had spontaneous vaginal deliveries and 25.5% had a common or severe morbidity, with the most common maternal morbidities being manual removal of retained placental tissue (16.0%) and postpartum hemorrhage (11.1%). Severe maternal morbidity occurred in 1.3% of cases and included amniotic fluid embolism. No maternal deaths were reported.
Study details: Findings are from a 10-year retrospective cohort study including 407 women with singleton pregnancies undergoing MTOP for fetal structure or chromosomal anomaly at ≥20 weeks' gestation.
Disclosures: This study did not report the source of funding. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Stewart B et al. Medical termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly at or beyond 20 weeks' gestation-What are the maternal risks? Prenat Diagn. 2022 (Sep 25). Doi: 10.1002/pd.6241