[Prevention of conception in adolescence].

The adolescent girl needs affection and understanding for all of her problems. She often does not find a satisfying measure of both in her familiar surroundings. Very often sex instruction is faulty, although the AIDS campaigns have led to remarkable improvements (condoms). Instructions for sexual behaviour should take place at home or at school, but not in the street. Nevertheless, the first intercourse occurs mostly unprotected. Teenage pregnancies present not only physical but also psychological problems. Termination of pregnancy means an especially difficult decision for the adolescent girl, often causes crisis and occasionally leads to negative consequences for later fertility. The choice of appropriate contraceptive methods for girls under 16 years of age may also have legal problems. Condoms and barrier methods are possible alternatives to the much safer hormonal contraception with the combination, sequence or minipill. Under certain circumstances, a progestin injection every three months or the 'morning-after pill' as postcoital contraception or, in the case of an abortion or of pregnancy termination, even an intrauterine device can be an alternative for adolescent girls under those exceptional circumstances.