Outcomes of women referred for sterilisation.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether women referred to a gynaecology clinic requesting sterilisation were receiving appropriate counselling about sterilisation and other forms of long-term contraception, and to determine the proportion of women who ultimately underwent sterilisation.


METHODS
A retrospective audit of 100 women referred requesting sterilisation.


RESULTS
15% of women referred did not attend the clinic, 54% had sterilisation and 29% ultimately chose an alternative method. Alternative forms of contraception discussed were levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (69%), vasectomy (34%) and subdermal progestogen implants (21%). At the clinic 70 (82%) women chose sterilisation; however, 15 (21%) of these women cancelled the operation.


CONCLUSIONS
Almost half of the women referred for sterilisation did not proceed with it, suggesting that there was insufficient counselling about sterilisation and alternative long-term contraception before referral to the gynaecology clinic and also within the clinic itself.
Smith
Rebekah A
RA
Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, St Mary's Hospital, Manchester, UK. rasmith@doctors.org.uk
Martindale
Elizabeth A
EA
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D008875:Middle Aged; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013245:Sterilization, Reproductive; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom