More than half of the women migrant workers in the whole Guangdong Province have experienced an unplanned pregnancy, according to a study conducted by the Guangdong Family Planning Science and Technology Research Institute.

The study, on the sexual activities of the transient population, was launched in 1999 with funding from the World Health Organization, reports Southern Daily.

The women often know little about contraception, said Zheng Lixin, a doctor who worked on the project.

Many believe contraceptive pills will prevent them from having children in the future, so they refuse to use them.

Dousing the vagina with water and drinking traditional Chinese medicines that have a "cooling effect" are often their methods of preventing pregnancy.

"Isn't 'Forbidden for Pregnant Women' printed on the package (of the TCM)" said a woman surveyed by the institute.

While women working far from home yearn for love and intimacy, they often feel guilty about having sex before marriage.

More than 60 per cent said they were anxious about the possibility of catching venereal diseases or becoming pregnant.

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