A third of unplanned pregnancies due to women not using contraception are terminated in Australia.
Camera IconA third of unplanned pregnancies due to women not using contraception are terminated in Australia. Credit: Supplied/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Australian women turning their backs on contraception

AAPWestern Suburbs Weekly

A NEW study has found more than half of unintended pregnancies are the result of Australian women not using contraception and almost a third of those pregnancies ended in abortion.

The survey, published on Monday in the Medical Journal of Australia and collected by researchers from La Trobe University, gives a rare insight into how women react to a positive pregnancy test.

Of the 2571 women interviewed, 1390 had been pregnant in the past 10 years and more than a quarter of those pregnancies had been unintended.

PerthNow Digital Edition.
Your local paper, whenever you want it.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

Most women who had unintended pregnancies (205 of 362 women) did not use contraception at the time.

Those that did relied on the pill (64%), condoms (27%), long-acting reversible contraception (6%), a diaphragm (1%) or the withdrawal method (2%).

La Trobe University researchers found that of those who had accidental pregnancies, 30 per cent had abortions.

In 94 cases where the pregnancy was unwanted, 78 (83 per cent) had abortions.

Professor Taft said more research was needed to explore the reasons women were not using contraception and to determine where education would be helpful.