Abstract
On any given day, more than 30% of Australian women aged 20–40 years take at least one medication subsidised by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and about half these women take more than one. Of concern for this age group is that almost one-half of pregnancies in Australia are unplanned, and an unintended pregnancy may only be recognised after the fetus has been exposed to a medication. Consequently, guidelines recommend that highly effective contraceptive measures should be taken by all women of reproductive age during treatment with teratogenic medications and for an appropriate period after their discontinuation. Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is considered very effective, with a failure rate below 1%.