In this day and age there are many types of contraception options available to teens, some are better suited to certain people better. Many teenagers tend to only know about 2 types of contraceptive, these being the pill and condoms.

Most contraceptive methods are aimed at girls, and currently there are only 2 male versions (and 13 female versions) out there, they are the male condom and male sterilisation (not recommended for any teenager). Currently only a condom will help to protect you against STDs and STIs.

What contraception methods are there?

• contraceptive injection – over 99% effective.
• contraceptive implant – over 99% effective.
• intrauterine system (IUS) – over 99% effective.
• intrauterine device (IUD) – over 99% effective.
• contraceptive vaginal ring – over 99% effective.
• contraceptive patch – 99% effective.
• combined pill – 99% effective.
• progestogen only pill – over 99% effective.
• male/female condom – 95 – 98% effective.
• diaphragm/cap with spermicide – 92 – 96% effective.
• emergency contraception methods
• contraception choices after a baby

What contraceptive should i use?

There are many places on the Internet that offer information on contraception, where they get their information from is unknown and how accurate it is is not known, so if you want accurate information on contraception methods be sure to get it from a trusted source such as the National Health Service (nhs.uk) or the Family Planning Association (fpa.org.uk). Or you could speak to your local GP or practise nurse who will talk you through the available options. (all our information is gathered from multiple sources).

The contraceptive method that you choose will depend on both your short term and long term options along with any existing health conditions.

How much does contraception cost?

You can usually pick up free contraception (at the very least this will be condoms) from your local contraceptive/sexual health clinic, some doctor surgeries also have sexual health services too. Also a lot of youth centres now offer free condoms.

If your in need of emergency contraception you can usually get this for free from most NHS walk in centres, some accident and emergency centres and some pharmacies. In each case you should try and phone ahead to ensure that they do offer the services that you need.

What is emergency contraception?

If you have had unprotected sex, or your method of contraception has failed (for e.g. a condom has split), you can use what is know as emergency contraception to further protect you against accidental pregnancy. Currently there are 2 types of emergency contraception.

The most commonly used is the emergency hormonal contraception (also know as the emergency contraceptive pill), this is a tablet that contains the hormone progestogen and must be taken within 72 hours (3 days) of having unprotected sex. The sooner the pill is taken, the more effective it will be.

The pill works by stopping or delaying the release of an egg, it may also stop a fertilised egg from implanting. The effectiveness of the pill ranges from 95% if taken within 24 hours to 58% if taken between 49-72 hours.

The other form of emergency contraception is a copper IUD, this must be fitted within 5 days after sex. It works like a normal IUD does and has a 99% effectiveness.

Breastfeed as a contraceptive

Yes its true that breastfeeding can also act as a contraceptive providing:

1. you are fully breastfeeding and
2. your baby is less than 6 months old and
3. you have no periods