Changes in contraceptive behavior in Czechia

The rapid increase in the proportion of women using hormonal contraception in the 1990s was positively reflected in a rapid decline in the number of abortions. Czechia was unique not only among Eastern European countries, but also worldwide. At the same time the decline in the prevalence of hormonal contraception from a peak of almost 50 % in 2007 to 30 % in 2021 meant a slowing and gradual halt in the further decline in abortions. The results of the GGP 2020-2022 survey in Czechia showed that the lower use of hormonal contraception among women was only partly offset by the increased use of other reliable methods of protection against unintended pregnancy (e.g. condom use). The largest decline in the use of hormonal contraceptives in the form of the pill occurred among the youngest women aged 18-27 years, from 76 to 37 %, which was partly reflected in the more intensive use of condoms (an increase from 21 to 35% in the 18-27 age group), but is worrying, that this age group saw the largest increase in the use of less reliable methods (withdrawal from 11 to 22 % and an increase in the use of the barren days method from 1 to 6 %) and also the largest increase in the proportion of women using neither method (from 7 to 17 %). The lowest proportion of female hormonal pill users was found among female with higher education. However an important finding is that when less reliable methods are used, there is an effort to combine at least two methods. Women have a more important role in determining how to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy.