Contraception in diabetic women: an Italian study

Abstract Over 1 year, a survey on contraception and obstetric history was performed on a cohort of 667 Caucasian fertile diabetic women (446, type 1 and 201, type 2) living in Italy. Results: Of these women, 30.4% used hormonal contraceptives, 12.0% intra-uterine device (IUD), 10.7% declared they used no contraception, 47.0% only utilised barrier and/or natural methods. However, irrespective of their previous contraceptive strategy, 7.2% of all the studied population was surgically sterilized during caesarean section. Hormonal contraception: Of these women, 60.4% was prescribed by a gynaecologist, 11.2% by a diabetologist, 15% by both of them and 13.4% by others. The proportion using oral contraception was similar among types 1 and 2 women (29.4% versus 27.8%, χ 2 = ns). Smoking habits: Of women taking hormonal contraception, 30.0% were smokers. Educational level: University graduates (37.1%), high school leaves (32.2%), secondary school (28.2%) and primary school leaves (15.5%) used oral contraceptives (OC). Obstetric history: The mean number of deliveries was 1.14 ± 1.1, of miscarriages was 1.3 ± 0.7 and of induced abortions 0.17 ± 0.5. Planning of at least one pregnancy was reported in 29.4% of patients.