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. 2023 Jun 29;20(1):98.
doi: 10.1186/s12978-023-01642-8.

Women's experiences of dealing with fertility and side effects in contraceptive decision making: a qualitative study based on women's blog posts

Lydia Johansson  1 , Julia Vesström  1 , Siw Alehagen  1 , Helena Kilander  2   3   4
Affiliations

Women's experiences of dealing with fertility and side effects in contraceptive decision making: a qualitative study based on women's blog posts

Lydia Johansson et al. Reprod Health. .

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, there is limited knowledge regarding women's views of future fertility in relation to contraceptive use. Few studies include material where women share their experiences at peer-written public domain websites, in spite of a larger portion of women discontinuing use of contraceptives. The objective of this study was to explore women's experiences of contraceptive methods based on data gathered from individual blog posts.

Methods: Explorative qualitative study including 123 individual blog posts as the data source analysed with inductive thematic analysis.

Results: Two themes were identified. Theme 1, 'Seeking control over reproduction and optimise fertility' including the sub-themes; Having the possibility to decide if, and when, to become pregnant, The value of effective contraceptive methods and the impact of women's sexuality, A wish to understand the body's normal fertility function and Limited knowledge-sharing information about the menstrual cycle during counselling and Theme 2, 'Making the complex decision on their own' including the sub- themes; Limited or subpar guidance in counselling and need for information from social media, Relational and environmental factors influencing contraceptive decision making and Considering beneficial effects and fears of adverse health effects when using hormonal contraceptive methods.

Conclusions: During counselling, women desired an extended dialogue regarding effectiveness, health effects of different methods and an increased understanding of their menstrual cycle. Insufficient understanding of contraceptive methods can lead to use of methods not providing the expected level of protection. Hormonal contraceptives, especially Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) were believed to inhibit fertility long after ending treatment.

Keywords: Birth control; Blogs; Contraceptive counselling; Fertility awareness; Thematic analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

One of the co-authors (H Kilander) has been reimbursed by Merck Sharpe & Dohme Bayer AB Sweden for running educational programmes and giving lectures. The other co-authors have stated that they have no conflicts of interest in connection with this manuscript.

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