Aim: We aimed to evaluate the postpartum contraception preferences of adolescent women in this study.
Material and Method: This descriptive study was prepared after a retrospective analysis of file records of
primigravida women who had given birth at the Adiyaman University School of Medicine Training and Research
Hospital Department of Obstetric and Gynecology between January 2010 and June 2012. More than 12 months
had passed after birth. The adolescents who were included in the study and the control group women were called
by phone and invited to our clinic. A total of 506 adolescents and 1,046 control group women came to the clinic
and were evaluated. The control group was formed of women between the age of 20-35 years who gave given
birth in our clinic during the same period and were randomly selected. Postpartum obstetric history,
contraception methods and data of these patients were recorded.
Results: The mean age was 18.3±0.4 years and 28.2±4.9 years in the adolescent group and control group
respectively. No contraception other than lactation amenorrhea was used by 256 women of the adolescent group
(50.6%) and 345 women of the control group (33%). The most commonly used contraceptive method in both
groups other than lactation amenorrhea was condoms (160 women (64%) and 230 women (32.8%) respectively).
The annual contraceptive failure rate was 3.95% in the adolescent group and 1.72% in the control group. The
highest failure rate was with lactation amenorrhea in both groups.
Discussion: Adolescent women mostly use contraceptive methods with low reliability such as lactation
amenorrhea and the calendar method in the postpartum period. Providing adequate contraceptive education is
therefore important. On the other hand, starting such training starting in the early postnatal period will preventrecurring adolescent pregnancies with a short pregnancy interval.