Counselling and prescription of contraception related to pregnancy termination.

Abstract

Introduction: Even though Denmark has the highest contraceptive use (42%) of the Nordic countries, 19% of all pregnancies in Denmark end in termination. Various contraceptive options are available, and unwanted pregnancies therefore ought to be avoidable. This study aimed to investigate if women received counselling and prescriptions for contraception during their termination and if this or other factors impacted their risk of repeat termination.

Methods: This was an analytical, historical and retrospective cohort study. Data were collected manually from 310 medical records at the Hospital of Southern Jutland between 2016 and 2019.

Results: A total of 82% of patients received contraceptive counselling during their termination, and 35% of these patients received a contraceptive prescription for future use. A total of 17% had a repeat termination within three years after receiving counselling; 23% of the women who did not receive contraceptive counselling experienced one or more repeat pregnancy terminations within the following three-year period. The risk of repeat termination during the follow-up period was significantly higher among the patients with a previous termination.

Conclusions: The majority of the women received contraceptive counselling at the time of their termination. Women who previously had an abortion were twice as likely to undergo a repeat termination during the follow-up period. Further research is necessary to establish whether counselling and prescription of contraceptives have a significant impact on repeat terminations.

Funding: None.

Trial registration: Approval R. no. 20/22908.