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Second Trimester ProceduresSurgical
Dilation and Evacuation (D & E)
This procedure is performed on unborn children as old as 24 weeks (six months). The difference between this method and the D&C method is that forceps with sharp metal jaws are used to grasp parts of the developing baby to twist and tear them away from the body. This process continues until the child's entire body is removed from the womb. The skull must then be compressed or crushed to facilitate removal since usually the baby's skull has now hardened into bone. If not carefully removed, sharp edges of the bone may cause cervical laceration. Bleeding from the procedure may be profuse. 28
Chemical
Instillation Methods
These methods use the injection of drugs or chemicals through the abdomen or cervix into the amniotic sac to cause the death of the child and his or her expulsion from the uterus. Many different drugs have been tried and studied, 29 but the most commonly used are hypertonic saline, urea, and prostaglandin.
Salt Poisoning
Otherwise known as "saline amniocentesis," "salting out," or a "hypertonic saline" abortion. In this technique a needle is inserted through the mother's abdomen and 50-250 ml (as much as a cup) of amniotic fluid is withdrawn and replaced with a solution of concentrated salt. 30 (This is used after 16 weeks of pregnancy, when enough fluid has accumulated in the amniotic fluid sac surrounding the baby.) The baby is then poisoned from swallowing the salt, 31 as well as burned and shriveled from the chemical solution. 32 Usually, after an hour, the child dies. About 33 to 35 hours after instillation, the mother goes into labor and delivers a dead, burned, and shriveled baby. 33 Approximately 79% of all mothers deliver their dead babies within 72 hours. 34 Here are some of the side effects that can come from this method: hypertonic saline may initiate a condition in the mother called consumption coagulopathy (uncontrolled blood clotting throughout the body) with severe hemorrhage as well as other serious side effects on the central nervous system; 35 seizures, coma, or death may also result from saline inadvertently injected into the woman's vascular system. 36
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