After months of research and writing, I'm thrilled to share a report I wrote for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) on the future of contraception.
The Pill was revolutionary in its time. It opened the door to women’s sexual liberation and gave women unprecedented control over their fertility. Yet, in the 60 years since the Pill was introduced, there has been remarkably little contraceptive innovation. Mostly, it’s just been new ways of delivering the same cocktail of hormones. Pills, injection, patch or coil - take your pick! But that is not real choice...
Not surprisingly, women are fed up – and want more. We at British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) recently commissioned a survey that included 1,000 respondents in the U.K. aged 18-45 years. We found that there has been a significant drop in women using oral contraception: While 21% of our survey respondents currently use oral contraception, 44% said they had used it previously. 1 in 7 respondents said they are dissatisfied with their contraception’s side effects. The vast majority have changed their contraceptive method at least once. Clearly, women are trying to find something better – but can’t.
That is why we are publishing our latest report ‘Contraception, Re-imagined: The Unfinished Revolution’ - for which I was lead author - highlighting women’s disillusionment with current contraception, the unacceptably long waiting times for coil insertions, and the huge appetite for change – for long-acting reversible methods of male contraception (a gel, pill or injection), and for a new form of flexible fertility control for women.
This new form of fertility control - known as contragestives – would involve taking a non-hormonal pill once a week or month, or only after unprotected sex and a missed period – whatever works best for you. 72% of respondents said they would be open to taking that non-hormonal pill, with the most popular option being taking the pill weekly. Only 14% of respondents said the way it operated (i.e. to prevent implantation or to end an early pregnancy) would be one of the most important factors influencing their decision – much more highly ranked were avoiding the negative side effects of other methods of contraception, safety and effectiveness.
What few people know is - that pill exists. And it will revolutionise the future of contraception.***
If you want to know more, please read our report and let me know what you think: Rebecca.Steinfeld@bpas.org Are you too fed up with the limited contraceptive options available? Do you want to see changes? More options for men? More flexible fertility control for women? I'd love to hear from you!
You can read the full report here: BPAS-Contraception-Re-Imagined-The-Unfinished-Revolution.pdf (bpas-campaigns.org)
You can read a guest blog I wrote for Mumsnet here: Guest Post: We need to make contraception better - for ourselves, and for our daughters | Mumsnet
If you would like to sign the petition we at BPAS have launched, calling on the government to urgently address contraceptive access issues and invest in contraceptive innovation, you can sign here: We Urgently Call for Investment in Contraception Innovation in the U.K. | 38 Degrees
