A file audit commissioned by Marie Stopes Australia has found that more than one in three women accessing an abortion reported using the pill at the time of conception.

The audit comprised a random sample of women accessing medical and surgical terminations during Oct 2016 to April 2017 (N=1160) and found that “59 percent of women were using a form of contraception at the time of conception.”

The audit, which investigates the methods and failure of contraception, found that more than 40 percent were not using contraception at the time of conception.

Marie Stopes Australia’s contraception expert, Cynthia Pollard says that from a health care professional perspective, it's important that we have more robust conversations about effective contraception options with patients.

“We know that Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) is the most effective form of contraception, yet take up in Australia has been low compared to other countries. We are keen to shift the conversation about contraception to include more methods like IUDs.”

The research project revealed that 37 percent of women accessing an abortion were using short-term contraception, including the pill and 21 percent were relying on condoms.

Marie Stopes Australia advocates for the use of LARC, a category of set-and-forget contraceptive methods, saying that patients increasingly rely on GPs to go through all of the options with patients for the most effective outcomes.

Information regarding the most effective forms of contraception is available at mariestopes.org.au

Marie Stopes Australia is the only national family planning organisation giving Australian women and men real reproductive choices. Our network of Marie Stopes Australia clinics provides tens of thousands of women and men each year with the highest standard in sexual and reproductive care, while our non-profit pharmaceutical company, MS Health, brings innovation in sexual and reproductive health medicines to the Australian market. We are a social enterprise that invests our profits in providing women across the world with access to contraception and safe abortion services – to give all women children by choice not chance.

For more information on our clinic network visit https://www.mariestopes.org.au/

Media Contact:
Jacquie O’Brien
Company: Marie Stopes Australia
Address: GPO Box 1635, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
Phone: 0428 396 391
Email: [email protected]