Trends in female sterilisations in New South Wales, 2010-2019

Female sterilisation remains a common contraceptive method in many countries.

The aim is to analyse the recent changes in the incidence of female sterilisation in New South Wales (NSW).

Data were obtained from the NSW Admitted Patients Data Collection for all female patients who had undergone one of the five sterilisation procedures in a public or private hospitals in NSW during 2010 and 2019. Denominators for calculating sterilisation rates were estimated using census and other population data.

The number of sterilisation cases dropped from 3407 in 2010 to 2561 in 2019, and the sterilisation rate declined from 22.6 per 10 000 females aged 20-49 in 2010 to 15.4 in 2019. Incidence was at its peak in the 35-39 age group in both years. Indigenous females had higher sterilisation rates than non-Indigenous females born in Australia or overseas. While some foreign-born females had higher sterilisation rates than for those who were in Australia or overseas on average their rates were lower than those who were born in Australia or overseas. There was a clear socio-economic gradient such that females living in the most disadvantaged areas had much higher sterilisation rates than those living in the least disadvantaged areas. The Indigenous, ethnic and socio-economic differences in sterilisation rates persisted in both years of this study.

Although fertility rates in NSW changed little over the 10-year interval a steady decline in sterilisation occurred, consistent with other forms of contraception (particularly long-acting reversible types) increasing concurrently in popularity.