EXPERIENCES WITH THE DEFINITIVE CONTRACEP TION - RESULTS OF A FOLLOW-UP ANALYSIS OF STERILIZED WOMEN

Within the framework of a retrospective analysis, 96 patients who had undergone sterilisation at the Department of Gynaecology at the Univer sity of Cologne between 1988 and 1991, had been questioned as to wheth er they were content about their former decision in favour of a defini tive contraception. At present, 94 % of these women fully agreed with their former decision. The circumstances influencing the decision for sterilisation before the operation i.e. age, number of children, motiv ation, situation between partners, date of operation and medical consu ltation - were compared to those of a number of sterilised women seeki ng refertilisation. We want to stress the importance of a sufficiently long decision process, accompanied by individual medical consultation .