Preventing repeat adolescent pregnancies with early adoption of the contraceptive implant.

CONTEXT: Even in intensive, adolescent-oriented programs, in which access to highly effective contraceptives is guaranteed, repeat adolescent pregnancies commonly occur.
METHODS: To assess whether adoption of the contraceptive implant would lower the rate of repeat pregnancy, contraceptive use and pregnancy outcomes were tracked among 309 adolescent mothers--171 "early" implant users who began use within six months of delivery and 138 who either adopted another method or had used no method. Participants were interviewed at delivery and at six-month intervals through the second year postpartum. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to ascertain the likelihood of a repeat pregnancy within the first and second year postpartum.
RESULTS: During the first year postpartum, although 7% of the early implant users had their implants removed, pregnancy rates were significantly (p < .0001) lower among early implant users (less than 1%) than among the other adolescent mothers in the sample (20%). By the end of the second year postpartum, 37% of early implant users had discontinued use. Nevertheless, their two-year pregnancy rate (12%) remained significantly lower (p < .0001) than that of the other adolescent mothers (46%). The multivariate analysis showed that early implant use was the only independent predictor of a repeat pregnancy within the first year postpartum, while early use, parity and number of risk factors for repeat pregnancy were independently associated with the likelihood of another pregnancy in the second year postpartum.
CONCLUSIONS: Although early implant insertion significantly decreased the rate of rapid, repeat adolescent pregnancies, the rates of removal and of pregnancy by the end of the second year postpartum were high. Thus, health care providers need to address the motivational components of adolescent pregnancy even among those who accept ostensibly long-term methods.