Appointments for Adolescent Pregnancy and Family Planning: The Effects of Delays in Providing Services

With the tremendous increase in the number of teenage females seeking family‐planning services have come problems of overcrowded clinics and long delays in providing needed services. This study examined the impact of these long delays at a local health department family‐planning clinic on appointment failures and pregnancy prevention. Results indicated that, over a six‐month period, while established clients generally kept scheduled appointments, perspective clients had a substantial failure rate. Ako, in the six months, at least nine teens became pregnant while awaiting family‐planning appointments.