Hanne Wielandt

Pregnancy planning and acceptance among Danish pregnant women

Objective. To study how living conditions influence pregnancy planning and acceptance among Danish women.

Living conditions, contraceptive use and the choice of induced abortion among pregnant women in Denmark

Aims: This study describes women with induced abortion and thereby elucidates how living conditions and contraceptive failure are associated with the choice of induced abortion in a population of Danish pregnant women. Methods: The study population consisted of pregnant women attending Odense University Hospital. They were categorized in two groups: women with induced abortion (n= 373) and a reference group consisting of women with spontaneous abortion and antenatal care attendees (n=2,176). The two groups were compared by use of a case-referent design. The variables studied comprise age, number of children, partner relationship, education, occupation, economical situation, and contraceptive use. Results: Being single, aged 15-24 or 35 and above, having either no children or two or more children, and the experience of contraceptive failure were parameters which were associated with the choice of induced abortion. Among married/cohabiting women aged 20-39 with fewer than two children, being under education, unemployed, on leave, or willing to invest effort in obtaining a more satisfying job influenced the choice of induced abortion. Conclusions: To reduce the number of induced abortions, it should be recognized that many women both want to establish a family with the number of children they wish for and to have a satisfying job with influence and challenge.

Age at first intercourse

In 1984-85 a representative sample of 286 Danish women and 336 men aged 16-20 years were interviewed about their sexual debut. Seventy-four females (25.9%) and 101 males (30.1%) had not yet experienced sexual intercourse. A maximum likelihood estimation method was used to establish the age distribution at sexual debut. This takes into account knowledge of age at interview among the non-experienced respondents and of the few who did not report age at sexual debut. The median age at first sexual intercourse was close to 16.8 years for both females and males. This appeared to be a consequence of age at debut declining among women and remaining unchanged among males during the preceding 20 years.

THE PREVALENT USE OF CONTRACEPTION AMONG TEENAGERS IN DENMARK AND THE CORRESPONDING LOW PREGNANCY RATE

In Denmark the number of births and induced abortions among teenagers has reduced and teenage parenthood is now rare. This paper evaluates the correlation between this observed fertility and reported sexual and contraceptive behaviour. In 1989 a sample of 16-20-year-olds in Denmark was selected at random and personally interviewed about sexual and contraceptive behaviour. Ninety-five per cent of the young women who had experienced sexual intercourse used contraception at the most recent sexual intercourse. In order to support the validity of this finding a model was developed to estimate an expected number of conceptions in the age groups concerned. The model included both the information on coital frequency and use of contraception from the questionnaire and available efficacy rates on contraception. The estimates derived by the model were compared with the registered number of births and induced abortions derived from public registers. The analysis revealed a high accordance between the estimated number of conceptions and the registered number of births and induced abortions for each age group. This underlines the validity of the data on sexual and contraceptive behaviour sampled among teenagers in Denmark. The findings indicate that contraceptive failure is a much greater problem than non-use of contraception for teenagers in Denmark.

Birth control: Some experiences from Denmark

This article discusses that an effective birth control exists in Denmark today. Birth control is considered as a means for the couple not only to reach the wished-for family size by limiting their number of children but also to decide when to have children. Since 1973, women in Denmark can have an induced abortion on request before the end of the 12th week of pregnancy. An increasing proportion of women applying for induced abortion have no children, indicating that induced abortion is a means to obtain an effective postponement of first birth. The paper concludes that birth control is primarily accomplished by use of contraceptives and as an effect of widespread use, teenagers have managed to diminish their total rate of pregnancy rather dramatically.

Contraceptive use in a Sample of Young Danish Females

During the period April 1984‐February 1985, 4 test samples of totally 380 young Danish women aged 16–20 years old were invited to interview about contraception and sexual behaviour. The response rate was 75,3%.

Have the AIDS campaigns changed the pattern of contraceptive usage among adolescents

In 1984 ‐just before the extensive public information about prevention of HIV infection by the use of the condom (the AIDS campaigns) ‐ personal interviews about sexual experiences and use of contraception were obtained in random samples of 16‐20 year old Danes. The investigation was repeated in 1989 addressing the issue of whether the behavior of adolescents regarding sexual intercourse and use of contraception has changed. In 1984 in all 286 females (respondent rate = 75.3%) and 336 males (respondent rate = 77.8%) agreed to be interviewed. The second investigation in 1989 involved new cohorts of 16‐20 year olds and here 359 females (respondent rate = 77.9%) and 400 males (respondent rate=76.3%) participated. In 1984 approximately 20% and in 1989 approximately 10% reported no use of contraception at first sexual intercourse. In both investigations oral contraception (OC) and condom were by far the predominant methods mentioned. In 1984 38.1% of females and 34.4% of males used OC and 37.2% of females and 42.1% of males employed condom. In 1989 26.7% of females and 30.8% of males used OC and 64.8% of females and 62.1% of males employed condom. No sex difference in the distribution of the various contraceptive methods could be revealed. From 1984 to 1989 the prevalence of condom increased significantly. In the first investigation 15.9% of sexually experienced females reported no present use of contraception. The most frequently used device was OC (62.7%). The second investigation collected information about contraception employed at the most recent sexual intercourse from both females and males. Approximately 5% of both sexes mentioned no use of contraception. In all 56.7% of females and 49.1% of males reported OC. In conclusion, the AIDS campaigns in Denmark seem to have increased the use of condom at first sexual intercourse. The intention to have a condom handy has also improved among the 16‐20 year olds. In 1989 a total of 36.9% of females and 52.0% of males used condom at their most recent sexual intercourse.

Age of partners at first intercourse among Danish males and females

In 1984–1985 a representative sample of 286 Danish women (response rate = 75.3%) and 336 Danish men (response rate = 77.8%), ages 16–20 years, was interviewed about their first sexual intercourse. A cumulative frequency function was constructed and the median age at sexual debut was estimated at 16.8 years for both male and female. Generally the age difference between the partners at first intercourse was only a few years. However, the young women almost never reported their first sexual partner as younger than themselves. A cross-check was made of the information given by two homogeneous subsamples of the 47 young women and 80 young men who had their first sexual intercourse with a partner who was also a debutant. Self-reported age among the males differed significantly from the age of the first sexual partner as stated by the females in these subsamples. Therefore, there is bias in the reporting of age of partner at first intercourse. As the self-reported age at first sexual intercourse by young women agrees with the age of first partner as stated by young men, the bias seems to manifest itself predominantly as a systematic misreporting in the age of male partners of debutant females.

Sexual Behavior, Contraception and Unintended Pregnancy Among Young Females

Information about contraceptive usage and sexual experiences was sampled in 1985–86 from 16–20‐year‐old Danish females admitted for legally induced abortion on Funen (N = 140). In attempts to elucidatec the causal relations behind undesired pregnancy among teenagers, data were in the present context compared with answers to the same questions from a representative Danish sample of sexually experienced, non‐pregnant females of the same age (N = 201).

Recurrence of gestational diabetes in primiparous women.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increases the risk for diabetes in the next pregnancy and later in life. Thus, estimating the risk of GDM in further pregnancies provides a time frame for possible preventive measures. We aimed to calculate the recurrence rate of GDM in primiparous women and evaluate the factors involved such as age, body mass index, weight gain, time between pregnancy and postpartum OGTT results.