New FSRH Guideline – Contraception After Pregnancy

FSRH publishes its new guideline 'Contraception After Pregnancy', endorsed by RCGP, RCOG, RCN and RCM

Today sees FSRH publish its Contraception After Pregnancy guideline. Developed by FSRH’s Clinical Effectiveness Unit, Contraception after Pregnancy provides healthcare professionals with guidance on how and when contraceptive information and methods should be provided before, during and after pregnancy.

Contraception After Pregnancy, endorsed by the Royal Colleges: GPs; Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Nurses and Midwives, aims to guide healthcare professionals to inform and support the women in their care to make planned choices about future pregnancies and improve maternal and child outcomes through optimum spacing between children.

FSRH’s recommendations mark a new emphasis on the provision of contraceptive information and methods across pregnancy care settings and span the full spectrum of pregnancy outcomes (including abortion, miscarriage and treatment of ectopic pregnancy).

Recommendations include:
► Women should be informed during pregnancy about the effectiveness of different contraceptives, including the superior effectiveness of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), when choosing an appropriate contraceptive method to use after pregnancy.

► All clinicians involved in the care of pregnant women, including abortion service providers and services providing care to women with ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage, should provide women with the opportunity to discuss contraception.

► Services providing care to pregnant women should be able to offer all appropriate methods of contraception, including of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), to women before they are discharged from the service.

► A woman’s chosen method of contraception can be initiated immediately after childbirth if desired and she is medically eligible.

► Women should be advised that an interpregnancy interval of less than 12 months between childbirth and conceiving again is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, low birthweight and small for gestational age babies.

To mark the launch of this guideline, FSRH is running a webinar on 28th February 2017 to help healthcare professionals gain a deeper understanding of how Contraception After Pregnancy will impact and inform best practice. FSRH members can attend this webinar for free and non-members can pay to access. Book your place now.

Dr Asha Kasliwal, FSRH President, said:

“Sexual and reproductive health strategies all highlight the importance of high-quality contraceptive care following pregnancy. Until now, however, there has been no clear guidance for healthcare professionals on how to deliver this.

Contraception After Pregnancy bridges this gap – promoting a multidisciplinary approach to the provision of contraceptive care during and after pregnancy, from health visitor appointments to the maternity ward.

Importantly, Contraception after Pregnancy takes care to address the differing experiences and outcomes of pregnancy that women may face, including abortion and miscarriage – highlighting that women should be able to access the highest standard of contraceptive care irrespective of pregnancy outcome.

This guideline aims to ensure that every woman receiving pregnancy care, wherever it is delivered and whomever it is delivered by, has the opportunity to discuss, plan and initiate her contraceptive choices and take full control of her reproductive health."

Read the Contraception After Pregnancy guideline in full
Register for the Contraception After Pregnancy webinar