Melbourne - MSI Australia has called on the Australian Government to focus on contraception education after research showed that a majority of women were using contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy.
“Of 2,041 women who commenced the study, 1,033 women confirmed having experienced an unplanned pregnancy, and 60% of those were using at least one form of contraception at the time,” said Jill Michelson, operations Manager for MSI’s Australia centres.
“These figures are proof of the need to increase the range of contraceptive options in Australia, invest in research to improve contraceptive efficacy and implement a dedicated contraceptive user education campaign.”
Other key findings in the report Real Choices: Women, Contraception & Unplanned Pregnancy, which was commissioned by MSI and carried out by WebSurvey, include:
• at the time of their unplanned pregnancy, the largest group of women using contraception were on the pill (43%), while 22% were using a condom
• nearly half of all women do not take into consideration protection against sexually transmitted
infections (STIs) when choosing their method of contraception
• one in 10 women either ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ felt comfortable to ask their partner to wear a condom
• 36% of women who were not using contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy had not been planning or expecting to have sex
• 17% of women who hadn’t used contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy believed they weren’t fertile, or wouldn’t become pregnant
• more than one in five (21%) of the women using contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy were using more than one method.
“Unplanned pregnancy is clearly a key health issue for Australian women and this research provides insight into the reality of reproductive choice – a reality that the Rudd Government
needs to address urgently,” said Jill.
Real Choices: Women, Contraception & Unplanned Pregnancy can be downloaded from
www.mariestopes.com.au