Here’s a surprising fact that might startle you: women in their 40s have the second-highest unplanned pregnancy rates after teens. That’s right, half of all pregnancies in midlife women are accidental – oops moments that happen regardless of income or education. I frequently see women in their 40s in my practice completely floored by a surprise pregnancy—some after they’ve just sent a child off to college.
Why is this happening?
For starters, many women believe they can’t get pregnant in midlife, or that the odds are slim. Fact is, fertility does start to decline each year starting in a woman’s 30s. A healthy 30-year-old woman has about a 20% chance of getting pregnant each month; by 40, the odds of becoming pregnant decrease to 5% each month. Despite these odds, women can absolutely get pregnant in later reproductive years—I see it happen all the time.
One reason for the high rates of unintended pregnancy is women frequently stop using birth control in their 40s—in fact, studies show that roughly a quarter of women in midlife abandon contraception. A new survey sponsored by Teva Women’s Health, the makers of the intrauterine contraceptive (IUC) ParaGard®, found that 25% of women 35-49 don’t see the value or need for birth control at this stage in their lives. These women admitted to being highly sexually active, so why the disconnect?
And why do they give up birth control? Many in this age may feel there is no ideal birth control method tailored for them. Some women prefer to avoid hormones of any kind, especially as they age. In fact, the Teva survey found that a vast majority of women (69%) have reservations about hormone use as they grow older and are concerned with the health risks associated with hormones. Among women who’ve stopped using birth control, nearly a quarter (22%) discontinued it to avoid side effects of hormonal methods and women who use condoms as their primary birth control cited “avoiding hormonal methods” as the top reason for doing so.
I encourage women to reassess their birth control needs in their later reproductive years. But in my experience, women don’t typically initiate this discussion with me. The survey backs this up: 65% of women said they’ve never spoken to a health professional about new birth control methods.
