MEASURING THE NEED FOR CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES - FINDINGS FROM A NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY

A population survey was carried out to assess the need for contraceptive services in Tameside and Glossop Health Authority. A self completion questionnaire was distributed to 1312 women aged 16-49 years, to examine need in relation to awareness about family planning, contraceptive use, unplanned pregnancies and current use of and proposals to improve services. A response rate of 41.6 per cent was obtained. The survey findings identified 14 per cent of women were at risk of an unplanned pregnancy. Unplanned pregnancies had occurred amongst one third of the women responders. In 50 per cent of these cases no contraceptive had been used, and in 23.6 per cent of cases a method of contraception had been used incorrectly. The findings suggest ways of improving service delivery to reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancies. These include improved communication during instruction about contraceptive methods, timely sex education, and improved publicitly and information on the availability of services.