First family planning visits by young women
Mosher, W.D.; Horn, M.C.
Family Planning Perspectives 20(1): 33-40
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0014-7354 PMID: 3371468 DOI: 10.2307/2135595Document Number: 352043
Data from the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth indicate that among sexually active women aged 15-24, friends and parents are the main sources of referral for 1st family planning visits. Friends are the leading referral source for women who attend clinics, and parents are the leading referral source for those who go to private doctors. Despite the importance of confidentiality to many teenagers, women who make their 1st family planning visit before the age of 17 are more likely to be referred by their parents than are those whose 1st visit occurs when they are 17 or older. Race, age at 1st visit and income influence women's choice of a provider. Black women, low-income women and younger women are considerably more likely than their counterparts to use a clinic at 1st family planning visit. At their 1st visit, 67% of women receive birth control counseling, and only 50% begin using a contraceptive method. Among clinic users, white women are more likely than black women to begin a birth control method (50% vs 40%). Women whose 1st visit takes place before their 1st conception (including those who have never been pregnant) are much more likely than women whose 1st visit occurs after their 1st pregnancy ends to begin a method. Women who make their 1st visit during their 1st pregnancy are more likely than those who are not pregnant to receive a pregnancy test or counseling on matters other than birth control. Multivariate analysis shows that the timing of the visit in relation to the 1st pregnancy is a very important determinant of services received at 1st visit. Only 17% of young women who have ever had intercourse make their 1st family planning visit before 1st intercourse, and 10% make their 1st visit in the same month as 1st intercourse. For the remaining 73% of women, the median delay between 1st intercourse and 1st visit is 23 months. Even women whose 2nd intercourse occurs with 1 month of 1st intercourse experience a median delay from 1st intercourse to 1st visit of 19 months.