Pregnant teenagers' knowledge and use of emergency contraception

TLDR: A descriptive study of pregnant teens in Devon, England, which examined the awareness and use of emergency contraception, and its potential for preventing unwanted teenage pregnancy Findings are based upon interviews conducted with 167 pregnant women aged 13-19 years.

Abstract: Despite interest in preventing pregnancy among teenagers little is known about the most effective strategies.1 An effective way of preventing pregnancy is to use emergency contraception after unprotected intercourse. We report a descriptive study of pregnant teenagers in Devon that examined awareness and use of emergency contraception and its potential for preventing unwanted teenage pregnancy. With approval of the ethics committee pregnant teenagers were recruited consecutively after local start dates. All those approached agreed to interview, though hospital staff refused access to five patients having a termination. The interviews were conducted between August 1992 and January 1994. A total of 167 pregnant teenagers (aged 13-19 years) were interviewed. Ninety five (57%) were attending for an NHS termination (8-12 weeks pregnant) and 72 (43%) were attending booking appointments at hospital antenatal clinics (16-17 weeks pregnant). Twenty (12%) pregnancies were planned, 122 (73%) were definitely unplanned (86 …