OVER one quarter of sexually active young women not prepared for motherhood still avoid using birth control, a new survey has found. The numbers suggest more needs to be done to educate young women on how to ward off unwanted pregnancies, said Dr Beh Dr Beh Suan Tiong, president of the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Singapore.

The latest survey was conducted by the society and the local arm of Bayer Schering Pharma. Many women do not use contraceptives thinking pregnancy 'won't happen to me'. The results of the survey, now in its third year, were similar to previous findings.

Meanwhile, researchers found of the women who practise birth control, 81 per cent use condoms, while 14 per cent employ the withdrawal method.Just 11 per cent use the pill, despite studies that show it is far more reliable than other techniques. It fails less than 0.1 per cent of the time.

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