Pregnancy after removal of NORPLANT^R implants contraceptive

Many concerns have been expressed regarding the introduction of a new contraceptive method into family planning programmes. One of the concerns is the return of fertility after discontinuing the method. To evaluate the subsequent fertility status of the Indonesian women after removal of Norplant^R, a prospective longitudinal study was undertaken in Klinik Radeb Saleh, Jakarta. Fifty-one women whose Norplant^R were removed because of their wish to become pregnant were followed-up for a period of two years or until pregnancy occurred, whichever was earlier. Two groups of women who had Lippes C IUD removed or discontinued the use of DMPA for planning pregnancy served as control and were followed-up for equal length of time. The cumulative conception rate for ex-Norplant^R users, ex-IUD users and ex-DMPA users at one year was 76.5, 74.7 and 70.2 per 100 women, respectively. There was no significant difference between the groups (p>0.05). The present study, along with other studies, indicate that the prolonged use of Norplant^R do not impair the return of fertility.