Why choosing the right contraception is so important
Your Contraception Guide
Written by Hormone Health Associate Dr. Tina Peers Consultant in Contraception and Reproductive Healthcare.
Why choosing the right contraception is so important
Deciding which contraceptive method to use is one of the most important decisions all women have to make. Being able to control one’s fertility, decide if you want to have children at all, and if you do, when you want to have them, how many you want to have and with whom are all critically important.
Pregnancies, which are unplanned, are not necessarily always unwanted. However timing is critical and can impact on one’s ability to gain qualifications, training, and economic independence. Becoming pregnant in the middle of a course or ones studies is far from ideal. Unplanned pregnancies can hold women back and prevent them from fulfilling their full potential and can be very stressful!
Key Statistics
Each year there are 193 million pregnancies worldwide, of these 85 million are unintended (44%). Surprisingly half of these pregnancies result from contraceptive failure or imperfect use (50%).
More than half of these unintended pregnancies end in abortion (59%). In 2021 in England and Wales, in the NHS, 214,869 abortions were carried out at a huge cost to both the women and the NHS economy.
The rates of unintended pregnancy are highest among young women aged 20 to 24 years. Perhaps young women are not choosing the most reliable methods of contraception, most commonly using either condoms or the combined oral contraceptive pill-both of which have high failure rates because they rely on good compliance.
Studies show that women in the age group 18 to 30 years are more likely to miss pills or to take their contraceptive incorrectly. It can be very stressful to remember to take a pill at the same time every day, and many women will stop taking the pill after less than six months of use.
Support & Contraceptive counselling
There are many contraceptive methods available and yet we still have many unplanned pregnancies. Good contraceptive counselling is vital to empower women so that they can see all the options available to them, and make an informed choice. Getting information from the right sources is very important. An excellent website, I would recommend, for information regarding contraception, is: www.Your-life.com
The contraception tool can help you find out which method of contraception is best suited to you. This will vary depending on your health and circumstances. There is a useful contraception tool infographic which shows you how many women may get pregnant in a year using each method.
There are many myths about contraception which can limit a woman’s choice, and which good counselling can dispel. Our latest research shows just how much women are seeking support in choosing the right contraceptive for age, health and lifestyle.
Other articles in this contraception guide:
In this mini-series to contraception I will explain all the different methods available and some of their advantages and disadvantages. I hope that this will help women to start the conversation about safe, effective, reliable contraceptives that they may not yet be using!