D And C Abortion In Nigeria

Under nigerian law performing an abortion is a criminal offense unless the pregnancy threatens the woman s life and penalties for the offense are severe.

D and c abortion in nigeria.

Each year in nigeria hundreds of thousands of women become pregnant without wanting to and many women with unwanted pregnancies decide to end them by abortion. In this article we examine the legal status of abortion as well as the causes of corruption in nigeria. The procedure may be done over a two day period. The only legal way to have an abortion in nigeria is if having the child is going to put the mother s life in danger.

Doctors perform dilation and curettage to diagnose and treat certain uterine conditions such as heavy bleeding or to clear the uterine lining after a miscarriage or abortion. Unsafe abortions can endanger womens reproductive health and lead to serious often life threatening. Although it is also used after miscarriages to remove tissue. Still abortions are common and most are unsafe because they are done clandestinely by unskilled providers or both.

Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the. Dilation and curettage d c is a procedure to remove tissue from inside your uterus. Unsafe abortion is a major contributor to the country s high levels of maternal death ill health and disability. Dilation and evacuation d e is an abortion procedure that s used in the second trimester usually after the 14th week of pregnancy.

Two separate abortion laws govern the northern and southern regions of nigeria with the southern region allowing abortions to preserve both the physical and mental wellbeing of the woman. Northern nigeria is governed by the penal code and southern nigeria is governed by the criminal code. Popularly known as d and c it means. In nigeria abortion is legal only when performed to save a woman s life.

Abortion is a controversial topic in nigeria. Because abortion is legal only to save a womans life most procedures are clandestine and many are carried out in unsafe circumstances. D and c is used clandestinely to carry out abortions illegally in nigeria. The northern region is majority muslim and is governed by the penal code while the southern region is majority christian and governed by the criminal code.

Legalization of abortion in nigeria. Dilation and curettage a brief surgical procedure in which the cervix is dilated and a special instrument is used to scrape the uterine lining.