BMJ  2008;336:1095 (17 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39576.554699.DB

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Problems with contraception play big part in unplanned pregnancies, study says

¹ New York

Nearly half of all pregnancies that occur each year in the United States are unplanned, and many unintended pregnancies result from incorrect use of contraception, say three recent studies.

The 3.1 million unplanned pregnancies lead to 1.3 million abortions, 1.4 million unplanned births, and about 400 000 miscarriages each year, said Sharon Camp, president and chief executive officer of the non-profit Guttmacher Institute, which promotes sexual and reproductive health worldwide and which conducted the three studies, funded by the National Institutes of Health (Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 2007;39:90-9, 2007;39:48-55, and in press).

Of the unplanned pregnancies, about 52% occur in women who were not using contraception, the institute reported, while 43% occur in women who used contraception inconsistently or incorrectly and 5% were in women whose contraceptive method was used correctly but failed.

The institute said that the number of unplanned pregnancies could be reduced through better . . . [Full text of this article]

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