OBJECTIVE:

Identify the contraceptive method chosen by the patients treated at a Hospital in Lima, Peru, after an abortion.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

An observational, descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional study was carried out at the San Bartolomé Hospital, in Lima, Peru, in 2017; women who had a diagnosis of abortion with favorable evolution and who received specialized counseling in the different contraceptive methods were included, regardless of whether they used a previous one; while those that had a serious complication were excluded. The choice of contraceptive methods in post-abortion was studied and the selection of women was made through a simple random probabilistic sampling. For the data analysis, the estimation of absolute and relative frequencies was performed.

RESULTS:

116 women were included. 28.4% opted for a contraceptive method, and of these, 6.9% decided on a monthly injection, 6.9% for a quarterly injection, 6% for combined oral, 0.9% for a subdermal implant, 1.7% for an intrauterine device and 0.9% for tubal ligation. On the other hand, 59.5% of the observed women were not using a contraceptive method, in addition, 62.9% had at least one previous abortion and 31.4% had an abortion with their last pregnancy.

CONCLUSIONS:

In this study sample, it was appreciated that the majority of women who aborted for some reason did not choose a contraceptive method; however, monthly and quarterly injectables were the most chosen among those who did choose one.