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Contraceptive practice of Irish married and single first-time mothers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Sheila M. Greene ,
Marie-Therese Joy ,
J. K. Nugent  and
P. O'Mahony
Sheila M. Greene
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Trinity College, Dublin
Marie-Therese Joy
Affiliation:
National Maternity Hospital, Dublin
J. K. Nugent
Affiliation:
Child Development Unit, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
P. O'Mahony
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Trinity College, Dublin
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Summary

This study surveys 100 married and 100 unmarried primiparous mothers, attending the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, with regard to their contraceptive practice, their planning of their pregnancy and the timing of their first antenatal visit. Nineteen per cent of the married women, but 64% of the unmarried women, had never used any contraceptive method. The contraceptive pill was the most popular method for both groups, but while three in five of the married women had at some time used the pill, only a little more than one in five of the unmarried women had ever used it. One quarter of the women who had used contraception reported that their pregnancy was the result of a failure in their contraceptive method. Eighty-nine per cent of the single group and 20% of the married had not planned their pregnancy. None of the married women, but almost a quarter of the single, delayed their first antenatal visit until after they were 20 weeks pregnant.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , October 1989 , pp. 379 - 386
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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