During the 14^e Conference of the International Federation of Abortion and Contraception Professionals (FIAPAC) on 9 and 10 September 2022 in Riga is the theme: "Fertility control into the hands of women". This topic is especially relevant for healthcare professionals and women after the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts from all over Europe will share the latest scientific insights in the field of abortion care, contraception and women's health care during the conference.

Long-term contraception after abortion

Dr Sandra Kroeze from the Women's Medical Centre Den Bosch will present her research at the FIAPAC conference: "Supporting financially vulnerable women with free-of-charge LARCs after termination of pregnancy in the Netherlands in 2020: an observational retrospective study"..

Annually, 31,000 pregnancies are terminated in The Netherlands, over a third of them are recurrences. VWS has made a payment available to abortion clinics to provide financially vulnerable women after an abortion with a long-acting form of contraception free of charge, i.e. a long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC), to be offered.

Of the 1603 women who had an abortion in VMC Den Bosch in 2020, 455 opted for a form of long-acting contraception such as a copper spiral, hormone-containing spiral or an implantation rod. 48 financially vulnerable women were offered a LARC free of charge. The average age of the women was 29, about half had never given birth before and most had an LARC placed after an instrumental abortion. Of the financially vulnerable women, 47.5% had already had an abortion. There was no significant difference in expulsions and pregnancies between the various copper and hormone coils.

Removing financial barriers

In this study, financial barriers were removed so that vulnerable women could choose a contraceptive method that suits them best after an abortion. LARCs are very effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies. Good counselling and the VWS regulation provide more women with access to reliable long-term contraception.

Curious about the study? You can find the abstract in the FIAPAC Abstract Book on page 62.

Dr Sandra Kroeze also recently presented her research at the ESC in Ghent. Click here for more information.