Contraception in women older than 40 years of age.

Women older than 40 years have high rates of unwanted pregnancy and abortion and traditionally have had limited choices of contraception agents. In today's market, oral contraceptives should be considered as should IUDs in properly screened candidates. Sterilization is effective for the couple who knows that they will have no more children. Mechanical methods are effective if used when intercourse tends to be a planned event and infrequent. With the variety of agents available in today's market, there is no reason why the unwanted pregnancy rate and abortion rate of the women older than 40 should not be reduced dramatically.