The need for integrating family planning and postabortion care in China

OBJECTIVE: To assess the need for integrating postabortion care with family planning services in China. METHOD: We collected data from a clinic-based study of 24 abortion clinics in 3 large cities in China. RESULTS: There was a total of 287 (10.3%) high-risk abortions among the 2780 respondents, 974 (35%) of whom had had repeated abortions and 48.4% had had 2 abortions within 1 year; 63.7% of the current pregnancies resulted from not using contraceptives; 28.8% and 19.8% of these new pregnancies, respectively, were due to the failure of the rhythm or the withdrawal method; only 9.7% of the respondents consistently used condoms; and only 9.1% could identify the correct time of their first ovulation following an abortion. CONCLUSION: Contraceptive neglect and the high rates of repeated and high-risk abortions call for the integration of postabortion care with family planning services in China.