Contraception, Health
Sexual Health Topics
In this guide we are going to cover some hot topics that surrounds sexual health, this includes contraception choices, contraception safety, sexual history taking, and relevant tests.
Contraception
Abortions
In the United Kingdom 30-50% of pregnancies are unplanned, with one in five being aborted every year. In 2014 there were 184,500 abortions performed, with 62% of women having an abortion had used a form of contraception when they became pregnant.
STIs
According to Public Health England in 2015 there were 435,000 diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections, with Chlamydia counting for 46% of these. There is a disproporionate amount of STIs in young people and Black Minority Ethnic populations.
Contraceptive Choices
There are a few different types of contraception available. The ‘fit and forget methods’ are the most effective, with these including, the implant, IUD, IUS and sterilization. With these methods of contraception only 1 in 100 women in one year became pregnant.
Slightly less effective methods, like the injectable, the pill, patch, ring and diaphragm caused between 6 and 12 pregnancies in one year.
And finally the least effective methods including condoms, withdrawal, spermicide, and fertility awareness based methods caused 18 or more pregnancies per 100 women in a year.
Although there are many different types of contraception available before choosing which one to take you need to be aware of the side affects that they can cause. You should also find out if your family have had poor reactions to any type, as these may also affect you.
STIs
There are a few different sexually transmitted disease that can be caught when not using a condom. The most common STIs include:
- Chlamydia
- Gonorrhoea
Both of these can have no symptoms, so if you hav recently changed sexual partners and not used protection then it is very important to go and have a sexual health check.
Sexual and Reproductive Health
Family planning is improtant to improve medical, social and psychological outcomes. The long acting reversible contraception methods are far superior. However, condoms are much more effective at preventing sexually transmitted infections.
