Contraception: Unmet Needs, Existing Options & New Technologies

An estimated 41% of pregnancies are unintended. Globally, 86 million pregnancies are unintended. These unintended pregnancies resulted in 41 million abortions, 33 million unplanned births and 11 million miscarriages. Nearly half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended, which is defined as any pregnancy either mistimed, unplanned or unwanted. Safe and effective contraception is clearly one of the most important areas of reproductive health for women. In this book, the authors review a number of topics in this important subject area. In the section on unmet needs, the authors reviews the unmet needs for contraception in the U.S., UK, Europe, Asia and the developing world as well as unmet needs in special populations such as adolescents, women with medical conditions and women living with HIV. The authors review the current options for contraception with special emphasis on efficacy, side effects and patient selection and identifies gaps in contraception options. Finally, the authors review some of the latest advances and innovations in contraceptive technology.