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There is an increase in the number of women in their 30s going for abortions, raising concerns that they might be opting for a career first and planning to resort to IVF(In vitro fertilisation) later in life.

Apparently, the number of women aged between 30 and 34, opting for pregnancy terminations has risen by 6 percent, which is a steeper rise than any other age group. On the other hand, the percentage of women under the age of 20 going for abortions has seen a fall.

The possible explanation given by experts for the rise in the number of women aged 30 and more going for abortions is that they perhaps rely on IVF and do not mind delaying motherhood till their 40s.

It was just last week itself that free treatment for women above the age of 40 seeking fertility treatments emerged. However, the success rates of these treatments at 40 is low.

 "At some stage these women are going to decide they really want children and then by that stage it may be too late. It just seems to be abortion on demand. It's like a form of contraception. Without making judgment, you would think that by this age women should know better. It may be that because IVF is available they can always delay having a baby.' Josephine Quintavalle, of pressure group Comment on Reproductive Ethics was quoted as saying by Mail Online.

There is an overall increase of 0.2 percent in the pregnancy terminations for all age groups in 2011.

The most alarming part of the statistics is that some teenagers have had as many as eight abortions, which raises concerns that they may think of it as kind of contraception, the report says.

"Abortion is a service that a third of women will need in the course of their reproductive lifetimes so they can plan the timing and size of their families, and play a role in society," Ann Furedi, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said according to the report. "There is no "right" number of abortions above and beyond ensuring that every woman who needs to end an unwanted pregnancy can do so," she added.

Julie Bentley, of the Family Planning Association, said that the there is no significant difference between the number of abortions in the past few years and that is a good thing.

However, she says, "cracks are beginning to appear in contraception services" and that if only that changes, the number of unwanted pregnancies and abortions can be brought down.