Australian women's fertility experiences prior to a termination of pregnancy

This research aimed to investigate the fertility management of women aged over 30 years prior to a termination of pregnancy (TOP) to inform primary health care service delivery providers and policy makers.

An ethically approved, two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used. This paper reports on part of that study.

The study was conducted in five South Australian TOP clinics.

Women aged over 30 years attending for a TOP in 2009 were invited to participate.

The Contraception Sexual Attitude Questionnaire (modified version) of women attending termination of pregnancy services was used.

Quantitative data analysis utilized SPSS V16 where simple descriptive statistics were described.

There were 101 questionnaire respondents where 70.5% were Australian women, predominantly married and with children. Women used contraception but experienced method failure, were beginning a new method, or were afraid of side effects. Risk-taking behaviours were reported such as putting the possibility of pregnancy out of their mind, getting carried away and not thinking of pregnancy risk, or frequently having unprotected intercourse.

Service delivery needs to include age specific programs, and policy makers need to include policies which are adequately funded and evaluated. Further research is required to provide greater depth of knowledge in this area.