Fertility, family planning, and abortion in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine from 1970 to 2010

Introduction: The changes that have taken place in women's reproductive health in Europe and Eurasia in the last 30 years have represented a massive “cultural shift” in many countries. This paper focuses on the temporal relationships between fertility, contraceptive use and abortion, as well as the effect of these changes on abortion related mortality. Methods: National-level survey data are examined to assess trends in fertility, contraceptive use, and abortion in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ukraine from 1970 to 2010. In the current version, pint estimates are used to create and compare trends in abortion-related data. Further analyses are being conducted on the statistical significance of these changes and will be available in time for presentation. Results: The data suggest that, despite a decade marked with uncertainty and turbulence, improvements in family planning and reproductive health took place in many of these countries. Assessing the temporality of abortion and contraception indicate that, in many countries, contraception is replacing abortion. Abortion rates decline faster in countries where more modern methods are adopted than in countries that heavily rely on traditional methods. Data indicate that women in the region have begun achieving their fertility ideals in a safer and healthier way than the Soviet-era reliance on abortion as contraception. Conclusions: The findings indicate a need to make long-term and permanent methods available to women who have completed their families; to continue to promote widely the benefits of hormonal methods of contraception to providers and clients alike; and to expand modern contraceptive offerings.