Story highlights More than half of Brazilian women polled said they avoided pregnancy due to Zika

Authors argue women need additional contraceptive options via the public health service

(CNN) A poll of Brazilian women found that more than half had avoided or tried to avoid getting pregnant due to fears of having a baby born with Zika-related birth defects, according to research published in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care.

Using face-to-face interviews from June, Brazilian researchers asked a nationally representative sample of 2,002 urban, literate Brazilian women ages 18 to 39 about their reproductive plans during the Zika epidemic that has ravaged the nation. The authors say those women correspond to 83% of the total female population in Brazil.

"The results provide an important first glimpse into how the Zika epidemic has shaped pregnancy intentions among women in Brazil," the authors wrote.

Zika is responsible for a number of serious birth defects, especially during the first trimester of pregnancy, that together is called congenital Zika syndrome. Those defects include the small head and brain of microcephaly as well as other hearing, vision and developmental delays.

To date, Brazil has confirmed 1,845 cases of congenital Zika syndrome, with the vast majority occurring in the northeastern portion of the country.

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