KEY POINTS:
More than half of Australian women who get pregnant unexpectedly are either on the Pill or using condoms at the time.
A report into unplanned pregnancy by sexual health organisation Marie Stopes International shows that 43 per cent of women were on the oral contraceptive pill when it occurred. A further 22 per cent were using a condom and 21 per cent of the women using contraception were on more than one method.
Marie Stopes International acting chief executive Jill Michelson said the figures were proof of the need to increase the range of contraceptive options in Australia, invest in research to improve contraceptive efficacy and implement a dedicated contraceptive user education campaign.
"With the Pill in particular, timing is very important, and it won't work well if you're on antibiotics or have diarrhoea and vomiting, but many don't know this," Michelson said. "Unplanned pregnancy is clearly a key health issue for Australian women, and this research provides insight into the reality of reproductive choice, a reality that the Rudd Government needs to address urgently."
The Melbourne-based organisation surveyed 2041 women and found 1033 had had an unplanned pregnancy.
Nearly half of all women did not take into consideration protection against sexually transmitted infections when choosing their method of contraception. One in 10 either rarely or never felt comfortable to ask their partner to wear a condom.
And one-third of women who were not using contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy had not been planning or expecting to have sex. Eighty per cent did not seek emergency contraception.
The World Health Organisation states that even if couples use contraception correctly 100 per cent of the time, there would be six million unplanned pregnancies each year.
Cait Calcutt, co-ordinator of Queensland-based unplanned pregnancy counselling service Children by Choice, said the research showed women were not using abortion as a form of contraception, as many people believed.
"When unplanned pregnancy does occur it is vital that women have access to the support necessary for them to make a real choice - everything from paid maternity leave to safe and legal abortion services," Calcutt said.
PREGNANCY AND USE OF CONTRACEPTION
* A survey of unplanned pregnancy in Australia found:
* 60 per cent of women were on at least one form of contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy.
* 43 per cent were on the pill, while 22 per cent used a condom.
* 21 per cent of the women were using more than one method.
* Nearly half of all women do not consider sexually transmitted infections when choosing contraception.
* One in 10 women either rarely or never felt comfortable asking their partner to wear a condom.
* 36 per cent of women who were not using contraception had not been expecting to have sex.
* 17 per cent of women who hadn't used contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy believed they weren't fertile.
* 80 per cent didn't seek emergency contraception.
* Two-thirds were aged 24 or younger.
- AAP
