Correction of female contraceptive behavior and its role in preventing undesired pregnancy

Aim. Finding approaches for the correction of female contraceptive behavior and assessment of its role in the prevention of undesired pregnancy.

Methods. In three city women's consultation clinics of Baku and adjacent schools and kindergartens a survey of women was conducted. International Women’s Health Questionnaire was used. The response comprised 1577 (39.4±0.8%) questionnaires. Outreach program for women on the issues of contraception was provided. It had lasted for 23-27 months. At the end, necessary data were obtained from 946 women.

Results. At the beginning of program, 48.1±1.6% of women used no contraception, only 11.8±1.0% of women constantly used it. As a result, among 4427 pregnancies the number of undesired pregnancies totaled 2092, 1901 of them resulted in abortion. As a result of organizational and informational outreach, the number of women not using contraception decreased to 15.5±1.2% (p <0.001), and the number of women using contraception on a permanent basis increased to 50.2±1.6% (p <0.001). Achievement of such positive results was facilitated by the fact that during 23-27 months the number of women using contraception on a permanent basis has significantly increased. Therefore, contraception plays a vital role in effective family planning, and, when used correctly and consistently, it prevents undesired pregnancies and related to them abortions. However, lack of awareness of the issues of contraception is the main reason for low level of using contraception. As a result, prevalence of undesired pregnancies per 1 woman during 23-27 months decreased from 2.16 to 0.19 cases (p <0.001).

Conclusion. Available outreach and regular contacts with women for a fixed period increased their demand of contraception, which significantly reduced the risk of undesired pregnancy and related to it rate of abortions.