In GTPAL, which letter represents abortions before 20 weeks?

• A. G
• B. T
• C. L
• D. A

Answer: (D)

GTPAL summarizes a woman’s pregnancy history into five parts. The key idea is that each letter tracks a different outcome: Gravida is the total number of pregnancies, Term is births at full term (typically 37–42 weeks), Preterm is births before a full-term gestation, Abortions are losses before 20 weeks, and Living is the number of living children.

The abortions component specifically counts pregnancies that were lost before viability, including spontaneous miscarriages and induced losses, before 20 weeks. So before 20 weeks’ losses are recorded in this category, separate from term or preterm births. In practice, if a patient had a miscarriage or an abortion prior to 20 weeks, that pregnancy increases the abortions tally, not the term or preterm counts.