Patterns of contraceptive use before and after an abortion: results from a nationally representative survey of women undergoing an abortion in France.
BACKGROUND
Using a large national survey of women undergoing an abortion in France, we explore their contraceptive use surrounding an abortion.


METHODS
The study comprised a representative sample of 7541 women undergoing an abortion in 2007. We compared their use of contraception before and after the abortion and examined the factors associated with the prescription of a very effective method (IUD, hormonal methods) after the procedure.


RESULTS
Sixty-six percent of women were using contraception in the month they conceived. A third of women reported the same use of contraception before and after the abortion, 54% were prescribed a more effective method, while 14% changed to a less effective or no method at all. After the abortion, 77% of women were prescribed a very effective contraceptive.


CONCLUSIONS
Abortion offers an opportunity to improve contraceptive uptake and a chance for providers to adjust their prescriptions according to the difficulties women experience in their use of contraceptives.
Moreau
Caroline
C
Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health, CESP Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, INSERM, U1018, Kremlin Bicêtre, France. caroline.moreau@inserm.fr
Trussell
James
J
Desfreres
Julie
J
Bajos
Nathalie
N
D000029:Abortion, Legal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D003267:Contraception / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003273:Contraceptive Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D012736:Sex Education; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female