[Induced abortion. Reasons and contraceptive habits]

An interview investigation comprizing 314 women referred for termination of pregnancy in Herlev Hospital revealed that the demographic conditions and the contraceptive habits for women applying for termination of pregnancy had not altered to any great extent since 1977-1978, when a similar investigation was carried out. Half of the women had not employed any form of contraception at the time of conception. The commonest reason stated was that the women had forgotten this. Thirty-six (11%) had not employed any form of contraception during the six months prior to conception. The group who had not employed contraception did not differ from the remainder as regards age and social status. 30% of the women had changed their method of contraception within the past six months. 17% had abandoned a relatively certain method in favour of the condom method because this method provides protection from sexually-transmitted diseases including AIDS. 32% of the single women had employed the condom method for this reason but, in half of these cases, the couple had forgotten to use the method during the coitus involved. As methods of reducing the number of terminations of pregnancy, information about the "morning-after" methods is primarily proposed. Offers of social assistance to applicants for training who constitute 27% of the women applying for termination of pregnancy, should be considered. The condom method should be supplemented by another method to increase the efficiency. On account of the serious somatic and physical problems involved in termination of pregnancy in very young women, efforts to prevent unwanted pregnancies should be continued in this particular age group.