The effectiveness of contingency-planning counseling

A longitudinal study assessed the effectiveness of contingency-planning counselling on contraceptive use and pregnancy outcomes among patients at a family planning clinic. Of 914 women enrolled in the study, 502 received traditional family planning counseling that focused on the provision of information and the selection of a contraceptive method, and 412 received contingency-planning counseling, which provided additional attention to possible problems that might arise with contraceptive use and the particular method selected. Although contingency-planning counseling was favorably received by both patients and staff members, patients in the two groups did not differ significantly on most of the outcomes considered. The two counseling groups had remarkably similar rates of clinic continuation at both the six- and 12-month follow-ups and analogous patterns of contraceptive use. In an exception to this pattern, the six-month pregnancy rate was significantly reduced among contingency-counseled patients who had ever been pregnant. However, the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing the likelihood of unintended pregnancy was short-lived: At 12 months, the pregnancy rate among ever-pregnant women was the same for traditionally counseled patients as for those receiving contingency-planning counseling.