Abortion is a relatively minor surgical procedure and does not necessarily require an inpatient hospital stay, or general anesthesia. For a woman who is obese, however, certain health risks associated with abortion may be higher. Another risk of abortion when a patient is also obese is one of time, as access to abortion services may be delayed by medical providers' concerns about health risks to the obese patient.
Heart Attack
Surgical abortion is a relatively minor form of surgery, but it is surgery nonetheless. Any kind of surgery carries inherent health risks, and these risks are often higher for an obese patient than for a person of normal weight. A 2007 study carried out at the University of Michigan Health System and reported in the "World Journal of Surgery" found that obese patients had a risk of surgery-related heart attack that was five times that of non-obese patients. However, it should be noted that the overall incidence of heart attack due to surgery was relatively low, with only 0.1 percent of non-obese patients and 0.5 percent of obese patients suffering heart attacks relating to surgery in the Michigan study.
Nerve Injury
The Michigan study also found that the risk of nerve injury stemming from surgery was significantly higher for obese patients than non-obese patients. Of obese patients, 0.4 percent suffered nerve injury or damage as a result of surgery, while only 0.1 percent of non-obese patients experienced nerve injuries. Although these results indicate that obesity increases the risk of surgery-related nerve injury by a factor of four, the overall risk for all patients is still relatively small. The Michigan study involved a large number of surgeries that are more intensive than surgical abortion, so the overall chances of nerve injury for an obese patient seeking an abortion are most likely less than 0.4 percent.
Delay
According to the New York Times Health Guide, surgical abortion becomes a more intricate procedure the further along in a pregnancy a woman goes. Delaying the abortion so that it takes place later in the pregnancy may therefore increase the inherent risks of the procedure. Obese women may delay an abortion, and therefore increase the health risks, for different reasons.
First, the mere fact that a woman is obese may mean she does not realize she is pregnant. Writing in a paper presented at the National Abortion Federation's Annual Meeting in April 2007, Kate Cosby notes that obese women take longer than non-obese women to suspect pregnancy and confirm this with a pregnancy test. Second, obese patients may experience delay in obtaining an abortion due to the attitudes of health care providers. Cosby surveyed medical providers, and 85 percent of providers stated that it was challenging to offer abortions to obese patients. Providers may refer an obese patient to a different facility, or require additional staff to be present at the procedure. Some facilities charge obese patients a "weight fee" to have an abortion. All of these factors can contribute to a delay in abortion services for obese patients.
References
- New York Times Health Guide: Abortion
- University of Michigan Health System: Obese patients run higher risk of post-operative complications, U-M study finds
- Scientific Paper Abstracts Originally Presented at the National Abortion Federation's Annual Meeting; April 23, 2007; Boston, Massachusetts: Obesity and Abortion
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