A portion of the abortion clinics received from the Ministry of VWS Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport) an additional year of space for discussions about contraception, especially with people in vulnerable situations. After such a conversation, nearly 70 percent choose contraception. Almost half opted for long-acting methods, such as the IUD, and nearly one in five for a short-acting method, such as the pill. This is evident from an evaluation by the RIVM of measures that can improve access to (free) contraceptive methods.
The RIVM conducted the evaluation on behalf of the Ministry of VWS Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport), which helps prevent unintended and unwanted pregnancies (2023-2025) with an approach (external link) and supports pregnant women and their partners. The latest figures on this subject, which the RIVM collects each year, show among other things that the number of abortions, like in 2022, slightly increased.
More Time for Discussing Contraception
The evaluation also shows that it is important to discuss contraceptive use with people in vulnerable situations. This includes issues like poverty. In nearly half of this group, the unintended pregnancy occurred because they used no or no this time contraception at all. The fact that abortion clinics have extra time can help facilitate discussions about contraception with vulnerable groups.
Program Now Not Pregnant
The second measure is to expand the program Now Not Pregnant (NNZ). Municipalities offer this program to help people make a conscious choice about their desire for children. So far, 89 percent of municipalities have joined this program. The expansion of the program allows for better support of the participating municipalities and partners. For example, by hiring substantive coordinators at the GGD Municipal Health Service (Municipal Health Service) for the implementation of the program.
Less Use of the Pill
The RIVM collects figures each year regarding unintended pregnancies. Earlier published figures from the IGJ Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (Health and Youth Care Inspectorate) show that the number of abortions slightly increased again (from 9.9 per 1,000 women in 2022 to 10.8 per 1,000 women in 2023). It is unclear what has caused this increase. It also appears that fewer women in the Netherlands are using hormonal contraceptive methods; this is particularly true for women under 35 years old. This mainly concerns a decrease in the use of the pill. Finally, it is noteworthy that more and more people are finding the support offered for an unintended pregnancy on their own initiative (decision aid). Additionally, more people are visiting infopuntonbedoeldzwanger.nl. (external link)