Contraceptive use among postpartum women - 12 states and New York City, 2004-2006

Postpartum use of highly effective contraceptive methods can prevent unintended pregnancies and ensure adequate birth spacing. Unintended pregnancies and short interpregnancy intervals are associated with adverse maternal and infant outcomes. In 2001, the year for which the most recent data are available, 49% of all pregnancies were unintended, and 21% of women gave birth within 24 months of a previous birth. Two Healthy People 2010 goals are to increase the percentage of intended pregnancies to 70% (objective 9-1) and to reduce the percentage of births occurring within 24 months of a previous birth to 6% (objective 9-2). To estimate the prevalence and types of contraception being used by women 2-9 months postpartum, CDC analyzed data from the 2004-2006 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) from 12 states and New York City. This report summarizes those results, which indicated that 88.0% of postpartum women reported current use of at least one contraceptive method; 61.7% reported using a method defined as highly effective, 20.0% used a method defined as moderately effective, and 6.4% used less effective methods. Rates of using highly effective contraceptive methods postpartum were lowest among Asian/Pacific Islanders (35.3%), women who had wanted to get pregnant sooner (49.9%), women aged >or=35 years (53.0%), and women who had no prenatal care (54.5%). State policy makers and health-care providers can use these results to promote use of highly effective contraception among postpartum women and target interventions for those with particularly low rates of usage, including women with no prenatal care.