Missed Opportunities: Emergency Contraception Utilisation by Young South African Women

Abstract

Although contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives, are widely available free at public health facilities in South Africa, rates of teenage and unintended pregnancy are high. This paper analyses awareness and utilisation of emergency contraception amongst 193 young women (aged 15-24 years) attending public sector health facilities. Structured interviews were held at 17 and 14 primary health clinics in an urban and a rural area respectively. Respondents were asked about their knowledge of contraceptive methods and use, and specifically about emergency contraceptive utilisation. More sexually active young urban women (76%) were currently using a method of contraception, compared to the young rural women (53%). Only 17% had ever heard of emergency contraception, although significantly more in the urban area (p = 0.005) had heard of it. Only one woman from each site had ever used emergency contraception, although 39% had had unprotected intercourse in the previous year when they did not wish to conceive. Young South African women should be the focus of interventions aimed at improving awareness of the availability of emergency contraception and knowledge about its correct utilisation. RésuméOccasions manquées: ultilisation de la contraception d'urgence par les jeunes femmes sud-africaines. Bien que les contreceptifs, y compris les contraceptifs d'urgence soient généralement disponibles et à titre gratuit dans les établissements de santé publics en Afrique du Sud, les taux de grossesse chez les adolescentes et de grossesses non-voulues sont élevés. Cet article fait une analyse de la conscience et de l'utilisation de la contraception d'urgence chez 193 jeunes femmes (âgées de 15 à 24 ans) qui fréquentent des établissements de santé du secteur public. Des interviews structurées ont eu lieu dans 17 et 14 centres de santé primaires dans un milieu rural et un milieu urbain respectivement. Les répondantes ont répondu aux questions sur leur connaissance des méthodes et de l'utilisation des contraceptifs et surtout sur l'utlisation du contraceptif d'urgence. Il y avaient plus des jeunes femmes rurales sexuellement actives (76%) qui utilisaient actuellement une méthode de contraception comparées aux jeunes femmes rurales (53%). Il n'y avait que 17% qui avaient jamais entendu parler de la contraception d'urgence, bien qu'un nombre plus important dans le milieu urbain (p = 0,005) en aient jamais entendu parler. Il n' y avait qu' une seule femme de chaque milieu qui ait jamais utilisé une contraception d'urgence quoique 39% aient eu des rapports sexuels nonprotégés au cours de l'année précédente, quand elles ne voulaient pas avoir des enfants. Il faut que les interventions qui visent l'amélioration de la conscience concernant la disponibilité de la contraception d'urgence et la connaissance de la bonne utlisation de la contraception soient concentrées sur les jeunes femmes sud-africaines. (Rev Afr Santé Reprod 2004; 8[2]: 137-144)

Comparative assessment of modern contraceptives knowledge and utilization among women in urban and rural communities of Sokoto State, Nigeria

“…Women preference for injectable contraceptive has been attributed to its relatively long duration of action (at least 2 months) and the possibility of keeping their husbands out of the picture should they disagree on use of modern contraceptives (Kebede, 2006;Mqhayi et al, 2004). Contrary to the finding in this study, a recent health facility based study in Sokoto (the study area) reported implant as the most commonly used contraceptive among the women studied (Shehu and Burodo, 2013).…”

Emergency contraception in South Africa: A literature review

“…Indeed, most studies suggest that very few people have even heard of it [13][14][15] . A study of adolescent mothers in one South African province, for example, found that approximately one fifth knew about the existence of EC and that even fewer knew that ECPs could be taken to prevent pregnancy after unprotected intercourse 13 .…”

Knowledge attitude and practice (KAP) of emergency contraceptive pills among women of reproductive age group attending AIIMS OPD Raipur (C.G.)

“…30 Many researchers have concluded that expanded access does not increase the rate of unprotected sexual intercourse nor does it change sexual behaviours. 31,32 All these disbeliefs leads to directly obtain it from pharmacy than to consult health personnel so as to maintain privacy leading to failure and ending into unsafe abortion specially in young unmarried females.…”