Contraceptive use and pregnancy planning in the Hutt Valley

This survey, carried out in an area where there are good family planning services, demonstrates that such surveys can be successfully carried out in New Zealand where so far there is little data on contraceptive practice and pregnancy planning. This article compares failure rates of several contraceptive methods and shows that most women in the survey sample had had some experience in contraception during the previous three years. Pregnancy planning overall is seen as poor, with 29.9 percent of all pregnancies being unwanted at the time of conception.