Tasmanian doctor sees women choosing IUD at higher rates

IUDs or intrauterine devices, are recommended as the first choice for female contraception by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, providing 99 per cent effectiveness against unwanted pregnancy, and yet the uptake has been slow.

A decade ago up to 4 per cent of women used IUDs, while up to 34 per cent of women used the pill or oral contraception, up to 23 per cent used condoms, up to 21 per cent used surgical interventions such as vasectomy or tubal ligation, and 4 per cent chose contraceptive implants.

The Bubble Launceston director Natasha Vavrek said recent trends in her clinic had shown a rise in the number of women requesting IUDs, which can either be hormonal or copper devices.

She said IUDs are inserted into the uterus, and were a very reliable form of birth control that more younger women were opting for due to their safety and reliability.

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"In the years passed the most common form of contraception would have been the contraceptive pill but in recent times we are seeing a trend for long acting reversible contraceptives, otherwise known as IUDs," Dr Vavrek said.

"In the last 12 months it has been really refreshing to see younger girls coming in and wanting to have that conversation about different types of contraception, who are not afraid of the insertion procedure," she said.

"I have seen a number of 14 or 15 year old girls having IUD insertions, generally they are having those conversations with their mothers before coming in for an assessment and deciding that an IUD is the best form of contraception for them."

Dr Vavrek said if someone was uncomfortable about IUD insertion then they may then opt for the contraceptive implant, which is placed into the arm.

"They [IUDs and contraceptive implants] are long acting, they are reversible, and it is not reliant on a patients compliance. With the pill, we have to rely on the patient taking it at the same time every day. With typical use of the pill, there is a 92 per cent effectiveness, so 8 out of 100 women will fall pregnant."

Regarding male forms of contraception, there are options being researched that look at drugs which reduce testosterone and sperm count.

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Dr Vavrek said there was a lot of research happening in this area, but condoms and vasectomies remained the two options for men.

"Vasectomies can be performed very easily and quickly without men needing to take time off work, and we are seeing an increase in the number of men choosing this," Dr Vavrek said.

"This may be off the back of women choosing not to go on any form of hormonal contraception, so it is time for the men to step up."

She said there were always women who did not agree with hormonal contraception, or who did not want to use contraception.

"Some women just don't want to be on anything, they don't have any problems with their periods, and why take something if you don't want to take something."

Researchers at the Monash University looking into natural contraception methods found that one in seven Australians did not use contraception, and 15 per cent (or one in seven) used withdrawal or fertility awareness methods.

The efficacy of natural methods are rated at 75 per cent and 78 per cent effectiveness.

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