March 10, 2020

Reconceptualizing Measurement of Emergency Contraceptive Use: Comparison of Approaches to Estimate the Use of Emergency Contraception

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There are an estimated 89 million unwanted pregnancies each year in low- and middle-income countries, of which 211,000 end in maternal deaths. Contraceptive use has been identified as one of the four pillars of the safe motherhood program, of which emergency contraception (EC) is a highly effective method. To improve our understanding of EC use, this study compares estimates of use based on five approaches. Using nationally or sub-nationally representative population-based survey data from 10 countries, we examine different estimates of EC use across the five approaches, among all women and among select subgroups of women.

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