UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (UKMEC)

FSRH UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (UKMEC)

The UK MEC helps clinicians decide what contraceptives they can safely recommend based on the medical conditions of patients in their care. Funded by the FSRH and developed by our Clinical Effectiveness Unit, this key guidance is informed by robust and up-to-date evidence on when contraceptives can and cannot be safely used. Where evidence was lacking, the FSRH CEU took great care to obtain professional input from leading UK experts in each relevant field.

There are three different ways you can access the UKMEC including: 

View our UKMEC Frequently Asked Questions here

Please note there is no restriction on any of our clinical standards and guidance for the purpose or your day-to-day clinical work, or for personal use for revision for exams or study purposes. 

However, if you wish to use the UKMEC material to present at a conference event, or to support the delivery of study courses in the form of printed or digital course materials, we would ask that you seek copyright approval from us beforehand. Please submit your request via this form

Filter Standards and Guidance documents

UKMEC 2016 (April 2016, amended December 2017), Digital Version

26 July 2016

All users will be able to view this version of the UKMEC on screen. Please note, printing is best accessed from Google Chrome or Firefox. If accessing via Internet Explorer, please download the document (via the small cloud icon) and print the pages you wish to use.

You are welcome to download our freely available Guideline documents by clicking on the document title above.

This document is up-to-date

UKMEC April 2016 (Amended September 2019)

01 April 2016

Download and save the UKMEC 2016. Published in April 2016. Updated in September 2019.

You are welcome to download our freely available Guideline documents by clicking on the document title above.

Please read this guidance document in conjunction with any relevant clinical statements for this topic.