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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think 13 is too young to go on the pill

474 replies

toni76 · 26/04/2012 09:49

A report says girls as young as 13 should get the pill without a prescription. I just think 13 is sooo young (have two little girls). AIBU to think there must be a better way to stop 13 year olds getting pregnant?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17847069

OP posts:
zombiegames · 27/04/2012 09:51

TheRhubarb - I agree with you. But just saying parents should do this isn't enough to actually make them do this. And I actually think some parents push their kids in to early sexual activity with the assumption that all kids have sex when young. It does transmit the attitude that this is normal.

But I still think denying the pill only punishes kids whose parents don't do this. And abortions are only possible if the girls pregnancy is either disclosed to parents or teacher early enough or they guess. And with the abortion limit we have, it is very easy to hide an unwanted pregnancy until it is too late, or at the minimum until the girl has to give birth to a foetus.

TheRhubarb · 27/04/2012 09:51

LST, because the girl needs to be educated enough to know that condoms are the best form of contraceptive unless you are going to be in a long-term relationship. They don't have side effects and they protect not just against pregnancy but against STIs.

You have to take the pill every single day (if the progesterone pill, every other day) and you have to be aware of all the side effects and the times when the pill may not work, such as after any gastro bug.

You also want girls to be strong enough to insist that he wears a condom so that he too, takes his share of responsibility.

TheRhubarb · 27/04/2012 09:53

zombiegames - but this cynical move to make the pill more accessible, yet still limiting free condoms to family planning clinics or doctor's surgeries, could be a move by the drugs companies could it not?

I wonder if schools would be as willing to hand out condoms as they are other forms of girl only contraception?

splashingaround · 27/04/2012 09:54

Condoms are a much less effective contraception even when used carefully.

Their frequent side effect is pregnancy.

TheRhubarb · 27/04/2012 09:57

splashing, it is no more or less effective than any other form of contraception when used properly.

You can get pregnant if you forget to take the pill or don't realise the times when it's not effective or just because and the chances of having an ectopic pregnancy with such hormonal contraception is much higher.

Not to mention the increased risk of DVT, depression, bloating etc.

zombiegames · 27/04/2012 10:00

I do agree that alongside this condoms should be freely available.

LST · 27/04/2012 10:01

I was educated. My BF at the time used protection also. But what would of happened if I were not on the pill? The first time I ha sex the condom split? I would be the mother of a 9 year old now. Not a 9 month old.

TheRhubarb · 27/04/2012 10:03

LST, I'm glad that you made that educated decision. But you know, every time a condom splits it does mean that a baby is the result. Especially not now the morning after pill is freely available over the counter.

The danger with the pill is that you often don't even realise that it's not worked until it's too late.

TheRhubarb · 27/04/2012 10:04

doesn't mean Blush

LST · 27/04/2012 10:07

The morning after pill wasn't readily available when I was 14. Plus it was a Saturday night of a bank holiday weekend Blush

dottyspotty2 · 27/04/2012 10:09

No contraception is foolproof my sister has 4 children 1 was planned 1st she was on nothing 2nd was planned 3rd tthe pill 4th the coil.

A condom splitting doesn't automatically mean a pregnancy LST.

StealthPolarBear · 27/04/2012 10:11

You can still get the MAP on a bank holiday weekend

TheRhubarb · 27/04/2012 10:12

LST, luckily it is now. Smile

LST · 27/04/2012 10:12

Fare enough I might not have become pregnant but what a ridiculous risk to take. If I had a daughter that was having sex. I would prefer her on the pill than taking unnecessary chances.

StealthPolarBear · 27/04/2012 10:12

I know from personal experience from about 15 years ago - difference is I had to walk from hospital to hospital to find the OOH doctor - who gave me a telling off!!

LST · 27/04/2012 10:12

Yes but I didn't need MAP as I was on the pill.

LST · 27/04/2012 10:13

Tutut stealth Grin

TheRhubarb · 27/04/2012 10:14

Sorry, just realised I said this in an earlier post "(if the progesterone pill, every other day)" don't know what I was thinking, but I meant at the same time every day.

I'm writing an 'About Us' for a company as well as Mumsnetting so now I'll have to proofread that very carefully in case I've inadvertently slipped in a dialogue about condoms!

StealthPolarBear · 27/04/2012 10:15

is the pill not also a risk though?

StealthPolarBear · 27/04/2012 10:16

yes I was quite Angry - I had walked for miles and thought I had been quite responsible
(but mine wasn't a split condom...but he didn't know that!!)

TheRhubarb · 27/04/2012 10:17

LST, I understand your point, but would you not also prefer your dd to be protected against STIs?

In your case, you had 2 forms of contraceptive which is brilliant. And you didn't have sex until you were 17 and, judging only by your posts, you were in a stable relationship.

Not every young teenager under the age of 16 is going to make the same choices. They will be influenced by what is readily available; what info their parents have given them; peer pressure; societal pressure.

At the moment society seems to be telling young people that girls are responsible for contraception and that the pill is better and easier to get hold of than finding your nearest outlet that hands out free condoms.

YonWhaleFish · 27/04/2012 10:17

morning after pill is freely available over the counter.

Why is this not a problem? Why isn't this a case of "oh well I don't need to use a condom as there's the morning after pill".

Sorry to jump on that, but advocating use of it is quite hypocritical given the problems people are having with the pill on here.

I know it's not the same as a continuous use pill, but it's still hormonal, and does it not still carry that message?

myfriendflicka · 27/04/2012 10:18

The way this story was written was very confusing. It was an NHS pilot project in south east London (Lambeth and Southwark). The researchers started by giving the pill to 16 plus teenagers via chemists, and found that 46 per cent of those who got it from pharmacies had never taken the pill before. So they concluded from that, that those girls had been having sex before, but were using other and less reliable contraceptives.

Hence the high teenage pregnancy rate in that borough.

Extending the scheme to 13 year olds was a suggestion carrying on from that, to cut teenage pregnancies. The way it has been reported suggests it is just for 13 year olds, and will happen immediately, everywhere.

StealthPolarBear · 27/04/2012 10:19

I don't think it's available to underage girls though
culd be wrong

splashingaround · 27/04/2012 10:19

The pill when used correctly failes around 1 in 300 times.
It is equally effective in all women regardless of their fertility levels.

The best stats on condoms give a failure rate of 2 in 100 women, this is per annum. Focus on the most fertile and the failure rate goes up irrespective of correct usage. Effectively condoms are less effective the more fertile and the more sex you have. Even the higher levels of protection for younger users give a 5 in 100 pregnancy rate. So 100 young women on the pill for five years could expect to see 25 pregnancies.

The pill group would still be on 1 pregnancy...

They are not equally effective, all methods have different reliability and side effects.