ABSTRACT
In South Africa there has been a decline in the proportion of women who have ever used contraception; while 30 to 50 of women present with unwanted and unplanned pregnancies. This study aimed to describe the contraceptive knowledge and practices among women aged 18 to 49; attending the antenatal clinic at LUDWM Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal; by means of a cross-sectional survey. The majority of the 286 respondents (76.6) were aged 18 to 29 years; 65.8 of the pregnancies were unplanned. Most (80.1) knew about injectable contraception. Condoms were used by 85.3; followed by injectable contraception (80) and oral contraceptives (62.5). Contraception was discontinued because of irregular vaginal bleeding (14) or weight gain (3.8). Of the women who planned for this pregnancy; 69 were using oral contraceptives. The general knowledge of modern contraception among the women was good; condoms were the contraception of choice; and most accessible. Employed women used emergency contraception and the withdrawal method more often than unemployed women. However; the most common forms of contraception used by both employed and unemployed women were condoms; oral contraceptives and injectable contraception. In this study the high unemployment rate; low education and limited access to modern contraception were associated with low contraceptive utilisation and high rates of unwanted pregnancies