Northern Ireland Termination of Pregnancy Statistics 2018/19

The Department of Health (DoH) today published statistics relating to medical abortions and terminations of pregnancy during 2018/19.

The statistical bulletin presents information on the number of medical abortions and terminations of pregnancy during 2018/19.

The information release is published on the Department's website.

Key Points

• There were 8 terminations of pregnancy in HSC hospitals in Northern Ireland during 2018/19.  This was four less than 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 8 terminations of pregnancy during 2018/19 were carried out on women normally resident in Northern Ireland (Table 3).
• During 2018/19 there were 5 terminations of pregnancy carried out on women aged 30 years and over, one termination of pregnancy carried out on a woman 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 Northern Ireland.

2. The structure of the terminology used within the UK National Clinical Coding Standards ICD-10 4^th 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 24^th 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 Northern Ireland legally acceptable, medically approved conditions.  This is a subset of the term ‘medical abortion’.

3. 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 1 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 before then.  There has been no change to the definition of a termination of pregnancy.
4. Further information on Northern Ireland Terminations of Pregnancy is available from:
   
   Hospital Information Branch
   Department of Health
   Annexe 2, Castle Buildings
   Stormont, BT4 3SQ
   
   Telephone: 028 9052 8452
   
   Email
   
   Internet
5. For media enquiries please contact the Department of Health Press Office team on 028 9052 0575 or email pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk. For out of hours please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 9037 8110 and your call will be returned.
6. Follow us on twitter @healthdpt.

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