Women ‘too embarrassed’ to ask for emergency contraception

A third of women in Yorkshire and the Humber admitted to having unprotected sex in the last two years, and the overwhelming majority, 86 per cent, did not use emergency contraception afterwards, research published today showed.

Leading sexual health charity FPA, which is calling for better education to help women avoid unplanned pregnancies, released the findings to mark the start of its annual sexual health week.

The charity said 37 per cent of women questioned in the region thought asking for emergency contraception was embarrassing and said there was still a stigma around it, and almost half, 48 per cent, said they would not know where to get emergency contraception if they needed it.

FPA’s Director of Health and Wellbeing Natika Halil said: “We know there are lots of reasons

women may choose not to use emergency contraception when they aren’t planning a

pregnancy – including that they are happy to leave it to chance.

“However, our research has shown many barriers exist for women – including a lack of knowledge of what emergency contraception is, how it works and where you can get it. There are also endless myths and misconceptions which are banded about, which leave many women with a real sense of confusion and worry.”

Ms Halil said many women had a “misplaced belief” about when they could get pregnant, wrongly believing they would be protected against unwanted pregnancy because they were at a certain point in their menstrual cycle or because of their age.

Women also didn’t know about the availability or effectiveness of emergency contraception, with 41 per cent wrongly believing a prescription was required, and more than two thirds, 67 per cent, wrongly believed, or weren’t sure, that emergency contraception has to be used within 24 hours of the episode of unprotected sex to be effective.

More than half, 58 per cent, said they only ‘knew a little’ about emergency contraception.

“Worryingly many women are also told that using emergency contraception is the same as an abortion,” she added. “This is completely wrong – emergency contraception can prevent a pregnancy, whereas an abortion is to end a pregnancy.”

One woman from Leeds has told how she felt “judged” by a pharmacist after asking for emergency contraception after a one night stand.

Emma, 26, said: “When I got there the pharmacist didn’t put me at ease at all. She seemed quite accusatory - when I said I’d recently moved so couldn’t remember my doctor’s surgery, she said ‘I’m sure you do!’ So I felt like she was accusing me of lying.

“It was good that she offered to discuss other methods of more regular contraception with me but when I said I’d probably use condoms she interrogated me about why I hadn’t used one the night before - even though I hadn’t actually explained what had happened, because she hadn’t asked. How was she to know I hadn’t been assaulted?

“Although it wouldn’t put me off getting emergency contraception in future because it’s a responsible decision to make, I wouldn’t want to feel judged in the same way again.”

The FPA is also using Sexual Health Week to encourage women to think about which method of contraception is most suitable for them.

“For example if you know you sometimes forget to take your pill, there are long-acting methods you can use which remove the need to remember to

do something every day,” Ms Halil added.

Help and information can be found at www.fpa.org.uk