Advice on ... Contraception
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe. FPA's Lynn Hearton and Anastasia Morgan-Rose offer advice on how youth workers can raise the subjects of sexual health and contraception with young people.
Q: How many teenagers become pregnant in the UK each year and why can this pose problems?
Teenage pregnancy and social deprivation are intrinsically connected. In England, 50 per cent of conceptions occur in 20 per cent of wards. Teenage parents are far more likely to come from disadvantaged backgrounds and suffer poorer health, educational and economic outcomes than those with more advantages. Reducing teenage pregnancy is also about giving vulnerable young people opportunities and aspirations, so they can decide on a future other than parenthood.
The number of teenage pregnancies is at its lowest in 20 years. For girls aged between 15 and 17, conceptions are at 40.4 per 1,000. But the UK still has the highest rate in Western Europe, so there is still a way to go to change a complicated situation.
Q: What types of contraception are available to teenagers?
There are 14 methods of contraception, and the same advice applies to professionals working with men and women of any reproductive age.
It is about giving people the information and support to find a method that they like, want to use and fits in with their lifestyle. FPA's Contraceptive Awareness Week in February, Finding the Perfect Partner, is about this.
Long-acting methods of contraception are worth considering because they are effective at preventing pregnancy. But they aren't suitable for everyone, and women of any age will abandon a contraceptive method (and put themselves at risk of pregnancy) if there are unwanted side-effects and the method isn't acceptable to them.
Ensuring confident condom use is a must. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are high among under-25s. Discuss using condoms clearly with young people to avoid confusion between contraception methods that prevent pregnancy and those that prevent STIs.
Q: What's a good way of raising the subject of contraception with youth groups?
It is essential to lay foundations and put the subject into context first. Begin with puberty changes or fertility, rather than launching into a contraception lecture.
Young people of the same age may be at different places in their sexual development and experiences. One idea is to establish what the person's needs are, deliver the general information to everyone and set aside specific information and support for young people who are already sexually active. Check your knowledge is up to date about reproduction and fertility as well as contraception and STIs.
Q: What activities are helpful to do this?
Use discussions, debates and role-plays. Get young people to think up problems and respond to them as an agony aunt. Quizzes are good for testing existing knowledge and are useful for myth busting. Games that provide tools for assessment are useful in ensuring that your work is pitched at the right level.
Male and female gender role-play games, where girls are encouraged to think like a boy and vice versa, encourage young people to challenge stereotypes and think about responsibility and relationships.
Q: Is there any advice youth workers should avoid giving?
Providing sexual health advice can be a sensitive subject. Avoid personal anecdotes and naming people and their experiences. Sharing your personal opinion and experiences about sex and relationships is inappropriate. It blurs professional boundaries and makes young people feel awkward. Don't assume every young person is having sex and knows everything about it or that they are not mature enough to understand. Conversely, young people may say they know more than they do. Establish what young people know to understand their developmental needs.
- Lynn Hearton is FPA's helpline and information services manager and Anastasia Morgan-Rose is project officer for life skills
MORE INFORMATION
- Contraceptive Awareness Week, Finding the Perfect Partner: Choose What You Use, is running from 9-15 February. Details about this and all of FPA's sexual health information is available at www.fpa.org.uk
- Other useful websites include: www.ruthinking.co.uk; www.brook.org.uk; www.thesite.org; www.connexions-direct.com.
