Variety between regions
We found that slightly more women from western China adopted contraception—in particular IUDs—than their eastern and central counterparts. These results may be due in part to more participants having two or more children in the western region than in the eastern and central regions. The desire for limiting births may also be stronger for women with more children. Somewhat surprisingly, the cumulative rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion were significantly higher in the western region relative to eastern and central regions. One possible reason for this is that the time of contraceptive initiation may be later for women in the western region compared with counterparts in eastern and central regions of China. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the differences in contraceptive behaviours and subsequent pregnancy among women living in various geographic regions of China.