61 per cent of women have had accidental pregnancy
Popularity of ineffective method worries family planning experts
About 61 per cent of Canadian women have had an unintended pregnancy, according to a national survey to be released this week.
That doesn’t necessarily mean an unwanted pregnancy, but one that was perhaps not well-timed, says Dr. Jennifer Blake, chief executive of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, which conducted the national online survey of more than 3,200 Canadian women to look at trends and attitudes about contraception.
The last time the SOGC surveyed Canadian women on the same questions, in 2006, about 64 per cent of those surveyed reported an unintended pregnancy.
“I don’t think we can call that much of change,” Blake says.
The results of the survey are to be released at the society’s annual clinical and scientific conference to be held in Ottawa. About 800 physicians, nurses and midwives are expected to attend.
Another surprise — and not a good one — was one of the favoured forms of contraception for Canadian women. When presented with a menu of contraceptive options and asked which they had used, women placed withdrawal (colloquially known as “pulling out”) in third place after birth control pills and condoms.
Definitely, withdrawal is a form of birth control, and it’s better than nothing, Blake says. But it’s not a good method of preventing pregnancy, especially for younger people. There are also concerns about the spread of sexually-transmitted infections.
The survey also pointed to a lack of awareness of about contraceptive alternatives. Most women were not aware of many of the contraceptive options that exist. For example, intrauterine devices (IUDs) are one of the most effective methods available, but most women know very little about them, Blake says. Only 3.7 per cent of women reported using a copper IUD and 7.1 per cent had used an intrauterine system or hormonal IUD.
“Oftentimes, people don’t realize they have a gap in their knowledge. People don’t know what they don’t know,” Blake says.
Meanwhile, one in four Canadian women also don’t know what to do when she misses a pill or other hormonal contraception method. The SOGC is releasing a new tool called S.O.S. to guide women through what to do in that scenario. It has also recently relaunched the website SexandU.ca and plans a social media campaign later this year, along with an online tool that will allow women to choose the best forms of contraception from an array of options based on their age and circumstances.
One of the major findings of the survey was that the sources of information had shifted from doctors to the Internet. But the responses also suggested that women didn’t necessarily trust what they find online, Blake says. She can only speculate why women are less likely to talk to their doctors about birth control. Women used to see their doctors once a year for Pap smears. They see their family doctor less frequently now, if they have one at all, she says.
Alex MacKay, executive director of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, says the survey confirms previous research that has found birth control pills and condoms remain overwhelmingly the most popular forms of birth control. That doesn’t appear to be changing. But the common use of withdrawal as a contraceptive is worrisome.
“A person who is using withdrawal as a contraceptive method is someone who has not planned for contraception, period. They haven’t thought about the need to practise contraception. A significant proportion of Canadian women are essentially making a spontaneous decision in the absence of any planning for sexual activity,” he says.
“It’s fair to say a wide swath of the sexually active adult population in Canada is not taking care of their sexual and reproductive health.”
Almost 29 per cent of the women between the ages of 15 and 19 who answered the SOGC survey had used withdrawal as a form of contraception compared to 45 per cent of those between 20 and 29 and 42.7 per cent of those between 30 and 50. It also worrisome is that more young women between the ages of 20 and 29 reported having used withdrawal as contraception than teens — although this might be because women in their 20s have lived longer and were asked in the survey if they had “ever” used it as a contraceptive method, MacKay says.
“We sometimes make the assumption that as teenagers grow into young adults and then into full adulthood, they become naturally more responsible. But we know condom use declines with age. I don’t see anything that shows people get better at protecting sexual and reproductive health has they get older.”