Family planning in a hospital clinic

The establishment of a hospital board family planning clinic and the results during its first year of operation are described. Three hundred and fifty-four patients were seen, a third of whom were interested in sterilisation. Only 3 percent presented with infertility and less than 1 percent referred themselves inappropriately. The failure rate in terms of unwanted unplanned pregnancies was 2 percent, and a further 1 percent had socially inconvenient but desired pregnancies. Of those established on contraception 45 percent chose the pill, 34 percent the intra-uterine device and approximately 10 percent each the injection or a barrier method;