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Can LARC Fulfill Its Potential to Reduce U.S. Women’s Unintended Pregnancy Risk? Examining Women’s Contraception and Childbearing in the Year Before Initiating LARC

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  • Mieke C. W. Eeckhaut

    (University of Delaware)

Abstract

Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) have received increased attention in recent decades for their potential to reduce the high level of unintended pregnancy. We know little about women’s contraceptive use and (unintended) childbearing prior to LARC initiation, even though it provides vital context to considering the extent to which increased LARC use could be expected to reduce the U.S. unintended pregnancy rate. Data from 849 women who initiated LARC in the 2–3 years prior to the 2006–2015 cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth were analyzed to describe U.S. women’s contraceptive use and (unintended) childbearing in the year before initiating LARC. Results show that more than half of women (55.4%) who initiated LARC did so within a year of giving birth, with 47.3% of these births resulting from an unintended pregnancy. Among women without a recent birth, 5.0% had last relied on sterilization, 54.7% had last used a moderately-effective method, 34.7% had last used a less-effective method, and 5.6% had not used contraception in the year prior to initiating LARC. These findings advance understanding of the extent to which increased LARC use could be expected to reduce the unintended pregnancy rate. Women initiating LARC after a recent birth are selective of those at high risk of unintended pregnancy. In contrast, the majority of LARC initiators without a recent birth last relied on a moderately-effective method or sterilization—a pattern that could reduce LARC’s impact on the unintended pregnancy rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Mieke C. W. Eeckhaut, 2022. "Can LARC Fulfill Its Potential to Reduce U.S. Women’s Unintended Pregnancy Risk? Examining Women’s Contraception and Childbearing in the Year Before Initiating LARC," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 789-799, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:41:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s11113-021-09681-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-021-09681-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Megan Sweeney & Mieke Eeckhaut & Jessica D. Gipson, 2020. "Reconsidering (in)equality in the use of IUDs in the United States: A closer look across the reproductive life course," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(35), pages 1049-1066.
    2. Karen Guzzo & Sarah Hayford, 2011. "Fertility Following an Unintended First Birth," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(4), pages 1493-1516, November.
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