Emergency contraception: a qualitative study of young women's experiences

Emergency contraception has the potential to greatly reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. Experiences in the use of emergency contraception have rarely been reported in the literature. Thirteen young women (a subset of a larger study cohort), were individually interviewed in a variety of settings about their personal experiences in relation to the use of emergency contraception. A thematic analysis of the transcribed data was undertaken. Barriers and facilitators to its use are explicated using excerpts from individual interviews with participants. Some young women had positive experiences, however many experiences were negative and reflected difficulties with access and availability of emergency contraception, as well as poor provider attitudes. Positive experiences generally occurred where services were responsive to the needs of young people or when a provider was well known to the young woman. Their experiences underscore the need to understand the situational stress and sometimes difficult arrangements needed to obtain this method of contraception. To optimise young women's experiences of emergency contraceptive use, a number of strategies need to be implemented. These include improvement of information about emergency contraception for young women and their partners; for health professionals; and for the broader community. Of critical importance is the need to include strategies to improve access to emergency contraception. A number of recommendations to achieve this within current health care delivery sectors in Australia, as well as suggestion forfuture access are provided.