Contraceptive failure may be a major factor in teenage pregnancy

EDITOR,--In their study of 147 teenagers with unplanned pregnancies V A H Pearson and colleagues found that 80% claimed to have been using contraception at conception.1 The authors argue that teenagers need to lower their threshold for use of emergency contraception when there is a risk of pregnancy.

It should be a matter of concern that such a high proportion of unplanned pregnancies are due to contraceptive failure (which comprises technical failure and misuse of contraception). To gain an insight into the effectiveness of contraception in …