According to a study done by Sian Cutris et. al. of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill entitled “Contraceptive Discontinuation and Unintended Pregnancy: An Imperfect Relationship,” more than 40 percent of women in six developing countries – Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Kazakhstan, Kenya, the Philippines and Zimbabwe – discontinue use of their contraceptive method within one year. The study, published in International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, found that the three most common reasons for contraception discontinuation in each country were the desire to get pregnant, contraceptive failure, and side effects.
The researchers propose that increasing the proportion of couples who successfully use a contraceptive method or switch to a successful method is critical in preventing unintended births, as well as reducing induced abortions. The study recommends that in order to keep the unintended pregnancy rate low, it is necessary to identify women who want to avoid an unintended pregnancy and help them to continue to use a contraceptive method successfully.
