Greater efforts are needed to provide women and their partners with a range of method options, to facilitate selection of methods that best suit their needs and circumstances, and to identify and assist users who are dissatisfied or are having difficulties using contraceptives effectively.

No abstract

The trend toward lower adolescent birthrates and pregnancy rates over the past 25 years is widespread and is occurring across the industrialized world, suggesting that the reasons for this general trend are broader than factors limited to any one country: increased importance of education, increased motivation of young people to achieve higher levels of education and training, and greater centrality of goals other than motherhood and family formation for young women.

Women and men need accurate information about fertility cycles and about the risk of pregnancy when a contraceptive is not used or is used imperfectly. Increased use of emergency contraceptive pills could further reduce levels of unintended pregnancy and abortion.

Have unmet need* 718 Have met need Do not need contraception 1,640 million women of reproductive age, 2019 923 million want to avoid a pregnancy 218 705 *148 million using no method plus 70 million using a traditional method. Notes: Numbers may not add to totals because of rounding. LMICs=low-and middle-income countries (see Figure 1.1). Source: reference 45. FIGURE Contraceptive Services