Potential solutions:
Access: cut waiting lists for coils
Hormonal coils are 99% effective, last for over five years, can lessen periods and new smaller ones like the Kyleena and Jaydess can more easily be fitted in women who haven’t had children. The copper coil is also a good choice for women who want to avoid hormones.
But, GPs have to pay for training in coil fitting, and there’s long waiting lists for many women seeking to get a coil fitted, with reports of up to a year.
Choice: allow better choices of contraceptive pills
Each contraceptive pill has different effects and will impact each woman in different ways. But, NHS regulations can make it hard to prescribe new and often better tolerated combined pills (that use body-identical estrogen), because they cost up to £8 a month compared to £1 a month for standard, synthetic pills. Women being given more information when it comes to contraceptive pill options and the freedom to choose and change their pill could reduce side effects and improve overall associations with the contraceptive pill.
Education: schools need to deepen contraceptive knowledge
Schools to teach contraception in depth, ensuring that teens understand the failure rates and the pros and cons of their contraceptive options and how they work. Schools could also seek to ensure teenagers have easy direction to resources, so that they’re easily able to fact-check what they see on social platforms.
Fast-track research
There’s a male testosterone-progestin contraceptive gel being trialled in the UK now, with good initial results. There’s a melt-away gel vasectomy being tested in Australia, and a new non-hormonal sperm-barrier cervical gel is going to human trials in the USA next year. Fast tracking this - and other - research into contraception could mean improvements in the contraceptive landscape.
