A traditional birth attendant aborted her pregnancy using herbs that caused serious internal injuries, which eventually turned into gangrene.

The 20-year-old unmarried woman from Bogra, who was admitted to the abortion ward of DMCH on June 16, is still struggling for life. Her pregnancy was the result of an affair with a young man who works in a garment factory in Dhaka.

"I lost my senses when I found myself pregnant," Deepali mumbled lying in the hospital bed. "My father arranged a dai (birth attendant) to remove it," she said.

Her father was crying, sitting beside his daughter's bed at DMCH. "I did not know the dai would kill my daughter," the poor father said.

DMCH's Obstetrics and Gynecology Department everyday receives two or three patients like Deepali, most of them are criminal abortion cases, doctors said.

Seventeen-year-old Nilu of Kurigram district died at DMCH last month after fighting for life for 12 days. Her family members said Nilu had been involved with a young guy in her village.

Her father Akkas Mia said: "We went to a dai to abort her pregnancy but did not know we will have to lose Nilu."

The dai doctored her five months pregnancy and left her in utter pain. After a week, Akkas Mia went to a quack who gave some herbal treatment. But Nilu's condition deteriorated further and she lost her senses.

"When Nilu was admitted here, there was nothing left for us to do," said a physician.

Most patients presently admitted to the abortion ward of DMCH have serious infections in the vagina and birth passages, said Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology department, Dr Farhana Dewan.

"These patients usually come here at a critical stage -- when they are about to die. The unskilled traditional birth attendants are solely responsible for this," she said.

"The cases we receive are mostly unwanted pregnancies. The families of the victims try to terminate the pregnancy secretly in fear of social stigma," Dr Farhana said.

It is estimated that 780,000 unsafe abortions are performed annually in Bangladesh. Of these 8,000 result in mother's mortality. Poverty, cultural practices, lack of reproductive health education and gender inequality are major factors that contribute to these tragic deaths.

Dr Farhana said strategies to decrease maternal mortality should include provision of quality post-abortion care, health education and awareness of unsafe abortion.