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First intercourse, contraception and first pregnancy in Flanders: changes during the past 30 years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

E. Lodewijckx
E. Lodewijckx
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics, University of Ghent, Belgium
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Summary

The investigation of women in Flanders born between 1931 and 1962 shows that premarital sexual intercourse has become almost general and that the age at the onset of sexual intercourse is steadily declining. Until the 1970s in spite of the improving contraceptive behaviour of youngsters, the number of women experiencing premarital pregnancy increased and first conceptions occurred at an increasingly younger age. The 1970s marked a turning-point: fewer women became pregnant before marriage or in adolescence. From that time, the contraceptive revolution kept pace with the sexual revolution.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , October 1987 , pp. 439 - 452
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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