Contraceptive care

What’s this about?

We ran a survey exploring the experiences of contraceptive care among women and people who menstruate between the ages of 16 to 25. The survey looked at different aspects of contraception consultations – such as the amount of information about range and side effects of contraceptives provided – to understand if and where improvements could be made to the process.

Read about the findings from the survey.

The survey was followed by an event bringing together different perspectives from across health and care to talk about the results, and what they mean in the wider area of reproductive health and patient-centred care.

We collaborated with Sexpression: UK, a charity with the goal of empowering young people to make decisions about relationships and sex.

Why is this important?

Contraception is an important part of health, but quality contraceptive care is especially important for young people. Puberty and the accompanying physical changes can be daunting, and so can navigating the complexities of first time romantic and sexual relationships.

Effective and well-suited contraceptives are important for health and to reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancies.

Sensitive, non-judgemental and informative advice can make a big difference. Understanding which aspects of contraceptive care are generally done well and which parts could work better could make them more effective. By exploring opportunities for improvement in contraceptive care for young people, we want to support continuous progression towards truly high quality reproductive care.

Through promoting conversations around contraceptive care and reproductive health more generally, we hope to empower individuals to really engage with their reproductive health and set high standards for their bodily and reproductive autonomy.