Reproductive-aged women represent about half of those undergoing bariatric surgery in the United States. Obstetric and bariatric professional societies recommend that women avoid pregnancy for 12-18 months postoperatively due to concern for increased pregnancy risks, and that providers should counsel women about these recommendations and their contraceptive options. However, knowledge about women’s experience with perioperative counseling and postoperative contraceptive use is limited.

We sought to: (1) determine prevalence of perioperative contraceptive and pregnancy interval discussions among women who have recently undergone bariatric surgery; and (2) describe postoperative contraceptive use within the first year of surgery in this population.

We performed a cross-sectional study of US women, aged 18-45 years and recruited through Facebook, who underwent bariatric surgery within the last 24 months.

We enrolled 363 geographically diverse women. Three-quarters recalled perioperative pregnancy or contraceptive discussions, the majority with a bariatric provider. Half felt it was “very important” to discuss these issues perioperatively, and 41% of those who reported discussions wished they had had more. Of the 66% of women who reported using contraception in the first 12 months postoperatively, 27% used oral contraceptives and 26% used an intrauterine device. One third of contraceptive users who had undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a combined restrictive-malabsorptive procedure, were using oral contraceptives. Perioperative contraceptive or pregnancy discussions were independently associated with increased postoperative contraceptive use (odds ratios, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.5–4.3, P < .001).

A substantial proportion of women who had undergone bariatric surgery reported having had no perioperative pregnancy or contraception counseling, and many women who had felt the discussions were insufficient. Those who had had perioperative discussions were more likely to use contraception postoperatively. Reproductive-aged women should be routinely counseled perioperatively about pregnancy and contraception in the context of their reproductive desires, so they can make informed decisions about perioperative pregnancy prevention and contraceptive method use.