One
hundred women were provided with EC during 1996 to 1997. Their change in attitude
and compliance towards other family planning methods was studied after six months
of EC use. A field-based cross sectional study
was done to include all women who were provided with emergency contraception.
Their contraceptive use before and of six months after EC use was recorded.
It was observed that there was a significant increase in the number (70% from
13%) of regular contraceptive users following use of EC. The acceptance of oral
pills increased from 3 to 44% Use of condoms
increased from 10% to 18%. Five women who had completed their family opted for
tubal ligation following use of Emergency Contraception and 3% had CuT inserted.
A significant decline was observed in the number of non-users and occasional contraceptive
users. Only one woman used Emergency Contraception again during this period. She
was unable to use oral pills or IUD due to side-effects. One woman was pregnant
at the time of follow-up. Thus, use of Emergency
Contraception coupled with adequate counselling, not only enables the woman to
prevent an unplanned pregnancy but also gives her a ‘second chance’ to carefully
choose a contraceptive method. It reinforces her faith in hormonal contraception
when she finds what wonders it can do at a much lower dose. Major reasons for
unwanted pregnancies are women’s failure to use a contraceptive method, incorrect
use of method, poor knowledge about emergency contraception and ineffective teaching
by health professionals. a consultation for emergency contraception presented
an opportunity to discuss more reliable and acceptable methods of contraception.
a follow-up visit after periods reinforced this, since most of the subsequent
contraception was initiated in the very first cycle following EC use.
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