The Family Planning Association has launched a new campaign called Conceivable aimed at women aged 35 and over, which reminds women to stay vigilant about unplanned pregnancy and to keep using contraception until after the menopause if they do not wish to become pregnant.
They are doing this because experts fear older women are ditching contraception in the mistaken belief that they cannot get pregnant past a certain age. Although fertility does wane, women can still get pregnant well into their thirties, forties and even fifties.
According to the Family Planning Association, abortion rates for women aged 40 to 44 match those for the under 16s, figures for England and Wales show.
In 2008, both of these groups had an abortion rate of four per 1,000 women.
There are many reasons why some women opt for an abortion, including birth abnormalities in the baby, which are more common when the mothers are older.
But FPA says its anecdotal evidence suggests some of the abortions are because women wrongly assumed they could not get pregnant because they were too old.
So be forewarned, do not ditch that contraceptive too soon...
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