# Knowledge and use of emergency contraceptives amid women seeking termination of pregnancy in the North West province

## TL;DR

This study found that many women seeking to terminate pregnancies in South Africa lack knowledge and use of emergency contraceptives, which could help reduce unintended pregnancies.

## Contribution

The study highlights the underutilization and poor knowledge of emergency contraceptives among women seeking termination of pregnancy in the North West province.

## Key findings

- Only 17.4% of participants had previously used emergency contraceptives.
- 64.8% of women who had never used emergency contraceptives cited lack of knowledge as the main barrier.
- Low knowledge and use of emergency contraception were identified as key issues in the study population.

## Abstract

Despite acceptable contraceptive coverage rates in South Africa, the rise in the number of termination of pregnancies is worrisome and suggests that family planning services are not yet optimal. Emergency contraceptives are underutilised in South Africa.

To assess the knowledge and use of emergency contraceptives among women presenting to a termination of pregnancy (TOP) facility.

The study was conducted in the JB Marks sub-district, North West province, South Africa.

This cross-sectional study was based at the TOP clinic at Potchefstroom Hospital, North West province. One hundred and ninety-six women completed self-administered questionnaires. Completion of the questionnaire was considered consent. Descriptive statistics were performed, and Chi2 and Fischer exact test were used to determine relationships between variables.

The mean age of participants was 26.5 years (standard deviation [s.d.] = 5.87), with 114 (58.2%) participants being single women in their 20s. Among 162 participants who had never used emergency contraceptives, 64.8% cited a lack of knowledge as the primary barrier to use. Only 34 (17.4%) of participants have previously used emergency contraceptives. The main reason for poor uptake among the women who never used emergency contraceptives could be attributed to poor knowledge.

This study highlighted that knowledge and usage of emergency contraception are low in women presenting for TOP in the health sub-district. Emergency contraceptives can reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and its associated trauma significantly. Community intervention should be of utmost importance to improve the knowledge and usage of emergency contraception.

This study emphasised the need to make young adults aware of emergency contraceptives to avoid the trauma of unintended pregnancy for women.