Nonusers account for the vast majority of unintended pregnancies

The risk of experiencing an unintended pregnancy varies greatly depending on which, if any, contraceptive method a woman and her partner use and how correctly and consistently they use it. The chance of becoming pregnant is highest when no contraceptive is used and lowest when women or their partners use methods that have high efficacy and that do not require user action.¹⁰ Pregnancy rates are lowest among women using permanent sterilization or the IUD. Among methods that require user action, the most effective is the injectable, followed by the pill. Pregnancy rates are higher for condoms and higher still for modern NFP, other periodic abstinence methods and withdrawal.

In 2008, more than two-thirds of unintended pregnancies (1.3 million) in the Philippines occurred among the 29% of women not using any contraceptive method (Figure 3). Meanwhile, only about 8% of pregnancies occurred among the 49% of women practicing modern contraception, reflecting the relatively high effectiveness of these methods. Traditional method users (22% of all women at risk for unintended pregnancy) accounted for almost one-quarter of unintended pregnancies.