Aged just 17, a KwaZulu-Natal woman called a number on a leaflet that advertised abortions.

She is one of thousands of girls and women who chose the illegal route to deal with undesired pregnancies.

In 2014 alone, 12031 women were admitted to various health facilities in KZN due to incomplete illegal abortions.

The shocking numbers emerged yesterday during the launch of Anti-Illegal Abortions Campaign in the uMgungundlovu District, by health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo.

The woman said she met a woman on a street corner who then walked her to an alley where she was given a handful of tablets to take when she got home.

"I remember sitting around with my friends and being in pain for more than four hours. Once I realised I was heavily bleeding, I had to call my parents to rush me to hospital. The memory of that day will never fade; I will always be haunted by my irresponsible actions," she said.

According to the 2012 Saving Mothers report, 186 South African women died of a septic miscarriage in public health facilities, 23% of which were caused by unsafe or illegal abortions.

"Sydenham SAPS (in Durban) are investigating the case of a woman who was brought into King Dinuzulu Hospital late last week and died at the hospital. From my understanding she had taken pills to help with aborting her foetus.

"However, she was eight months pregnant when she took these tablets.

"She died at the hospital as a result of excessive bleeding, whereby her uterus came out too," Dhlomo said.

A 2010 study by the South African Medical Research Council stated that 49% of abortions are undergone by girls between the ages of 13 and 19.

The study also stated that these took place outside a hospital or clinic.

The Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act came into effect in 1996 and allows women to have safe and legal abortions.

"We still have women being maimed and dying as a result of illegal and unsafe abortions.

"What is alarming is that we see these illegal abortion providers on the street corners distributing the illegal abortion pamphlets," Dhlomo said.