Beyond A Prescription - Strategies for Improving Contraceptive Care
November 01, 2009: The use of contraceptive pills is by far and most the commonest method used to prevent unintended pregnancies. However, it has been estimated that in countries such as the United States more than half of all the women would have had an unintentional pregnancy by the time they reach the age of 45 years. The unintended pregnancies are related to factors such as lack of contraceptive use and incorrect or inconsistent use in most of the cases. Only about 5% of the cases of unintended pregnancies occur due to failure of the contraceptive even though it was used perfectly.
A study conducted by Singh and colleagues evaluated the strategies that would reduce the number of unintended pregnancies at level of healthcare providers. They noted that there were several factors related to the healthcare providers that reduced the use or promoted incorrect use of contraceptive among women of reproductive age.
Every women of reproductive age group must be provided with adequate opportunity to discuss pregnancy planning and changing contraceptive needs at every visit to the healthcare provider. Further, the healthcare provider must be aware of the challenges faced by women during the use of contraceptives and help them to find a solution that suits their needs. The healthcare provider must have adequate knowledge about the current indications and guidelines for the use contraceptives and should eliminate the unnecessary barriers to contraceptive access. Many of the contraceptive methods or medications may not be affordable by all, therefore, the healthcare provider must enquire about the affordability and advise a suitable contraceptive option. Also they must help women overcome the barriers to contraceptive access, especially in conservative societies.
The incidence of unintended pregnancies can be effectively reduced by a joint effort of the healthcare providers, women, men and the society.
Source: http://www.arhp.org/publications-and-resources/contraception-journal/january-2009