Factors influencing the initial decision to use an intrauterine device.

This study analyses data from 104 women who elected to use an IUD for the first time. The reason they gave for requesting the IUD was evaluated against a number of personal and psychological characteristics. Parous women who had recently given birth were more likely to choose an IUD because of a fear of non-compliance with oral contraceptives and possible problems with other methods, eg, hormone injections. Nulliparous women, and women who had not recently given birth were much more likely to choose the IUD as their method of contraception because they felt it had health advantages and/or was more convenient than other methods. These reasons for choosing an IUD are not usually given a high priority by contraceptive methodology providers.