Crisis pregnancy agency gets more than 120,000 information requests
There has also been a surge in demand for help and advice from specialised counselling services throughout the country.
Despite the widely held belief that crisis pregnancies are mostly confined to teenagers, this is not the case, according to Caroline Spillane, the agency's programmes and communications manager.
"Crisis pregnancy is not a phenomenon of teenagers. It affects more women in their early twenties and can affect people throughout their life," she said yesterday.
She pointed to the growing success of the agency's campaign to raise awareness of free services available to pregnant women. "In 2002 we established Positive Options, an umbrella campaign that gives easy access to the nine services in Ireland that provide free pregnancy counselling.
"As a result, there is now a growing level of awareness of the help available."
The directory of services available can be accessed by phone texts.
Ms Spillane said while 120,000 text requests for information had been received this did not necessarily indicate a similar number of crisis pregnancies.
"It does indicate, though, that there is a growing number of people interested in knowing what services are available. There has also been an upsurge in demand for those services, as a result," she said.
According to a study commissioned by the CPA, one-in-three Irish women who have been pregnant have experienced a crisis pregnancy.
The research showed while 15% of these women chose to have an abortion, the majority, at 75%, went on to give birth.
The agency's chairperson, Olive Braiden, said: "Clearly, the majority of women who experience a crisis pregnancy decide to keep their baby. Women who are facing a crisis pregnancy and choosing to parent have particular concerns about childcare, work and money."
Ms Braiden went on to highlight the level of sexual risk-taking, particularly among 1825 year olds who, according to the survey, were less likely to report consistently using contraception than other age groups.
"The main reasons given for non-use by younger people who did not want to become pregnant, was that sex was unplanned (58%) and or they were drinking alcohol or taking drugs," she said.
One in ten women sampled did not use contraception the last time they had sex even though they did not want to become pregnant.
The agency also focused on what it termed a "poorly developed" contraceptive service, particularly outside urban areas.
According to Crisis Pregnancy Agency director, Sharon Foley, a key recommendation emerging from research into contraceptive needs is that contraceptive services are made available free of charge and that consideration be given to the deregulation of emergency contraception.
"Research indicates that the use of contraception is particularly low in women seeking abortion (25%- 30%). More effective contraceptive use, when accompanied by education and accessible contraceptive services will mean fewer crisis pregnancies and therefore fewer abortions," Ms Foley said.
Contact: www.crisispregnancy.ie/positive or text 'list' to 50444 for a full directory of pregnancy counselling services nationwide. The service is free.
