NI Termination of Pregnancy Statistics, 2015/16
Date published:
The Department of Health (DoH) today published statistics relating to medical abortions and terminations of pregnancy during 2015/16.
The statistical bulletin presents information on the number of medical abortions and terminations of pregnancy during 2015/16. It details information on the number of terminations of pregnancy by HSC Trust, by country of residence and by age band.
The information release is published online.
Key Points
• There were 16 terminations of pregnancy in HSC hospitals during 2015/16. This is the same as the previous year (Table 1). It should be noted that due to small numbers, relatively large fluctuations may be expected from year to year.
• All of the 16 terminations of pregnancy during 2015/16 were carried out on women normally resident in the north of Ireland (Table 3).
• During 2015/16 there were nine terminations of pregnancy carried out on women aged 30 years and over, five terminations of pregnancy carried out on women aged 25 to 29, and two on women aged 24 and under (Table 4).
Notes to editors:
1. The source of this information is the HSC Trusts in the north of Ireland.
The structure of the terminology used within the UK National Clinical Coding Standards ICD-10 4th Edition (2013) Reference Book is as follows:
- Abortion: The term abortion means the expulsion or extraction of all (complete) or any part (incomplete) of the placenta or membranes (products of conception) without an identifiable foetus or without a liveborn infant, or stillborn, before the 24th completed week of gestation. This covers a range of codes within the ICD-10 structure and includes ‘missed miscarriages’ (the retention of a dead foetus before 24 completed weeks of gestation, with no signs of abortion), spontaneous abortions (known miscarriages) and terminations of pregnancy.
- Medical Abortion: The term medical abortion within the confines of the use of the ICD-10 code O04 – Medical Abortion equates to the interruption of a live pregnancy for legally acceptable, medically approved conditions. It also includes re-admission with retained products of conception following a previous termination of pregnancy, only.
- Termination of Pregnancy: This is defined as any patient who has a live pregnancy terminated for NI legally acceptable, medically approved conditions. This is a subset of the term ‘medical abortion’.
2. Following a public consultation carried out by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, the UK National Clinical Coding Standards were revised for 2013. As a result, the definition of ‘medical abortion’ has been significantly altered. The revised definition (provided in point 2) has been applied throughout the UK from 1st April 2013. The change in definition of medical abortion has resulted in a break in the time series of medical abortions; consequently, figures from 2013/14 onwards are not comparable to figures for 2006/07 to 2012/13. There has been no change to the definition of a termination of pregnancy.
3. Further information on NI Terminations of Pregnancy is available from:
Hospital Information Branch
Department of Health
Annexe 2, Castle Buildings
Stormont, BT4 3SQ
Tel: 028 90 528452
Fax: 028 90 523288
Email: statistics@health-ni.gov.uk
4. Media queries about this press release is available from DoH Information Office on 028 90 520579, or out of hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07623 974383 and your call will be immediately returned. Follow us on Twitter @healthdpt