TEENAGE PREGNANCY - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF TEENAGERS CHOOSING TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY OR ANTENATAL CARE

A comparative study of 167 pregnant teenagers in Devon attending eithe r antenatal booking clinics or for National Health Service (NHS) termi nation of pregnancy was carried out to determine differences in their characteristics, use and experience of local family planning services. Teenagers presenting for termination of pregnancy were younger and mo re likely to say that they had wished to avoid getting pregnant. Wheth er the teenager was in a stable relationship was strongly associated w ith the outcome of the pregnancy, with single girls being more likely to choose a termination of pregnancy. The termination of pregnancy gro up were also more likely to be condom users, and to have learned about their method of contraception from school rather than from health car e professionals. Teenagers' frequency of contact with family planning services suggested that teenagers choosing a termination were less lik ely than antenatal attenders to have attended regularly. This was main ly due to differences in behaviour among teenagers attending their gen eral practitioner (GP) for contraceptive advice: teenagers having a te rmination were more likely to describe their visit to their GP as emba rrassing. These findings have implications for local family planning s ervices attempting to reduce the number of unwanted teenage pregnancie s.