what contraception?

[winnie]

ok... spurred on by another thread I am curious.
What contraception would you advise your dd to take at 16 if she is in a relationship having sex and is already using condoms?

Pill too.

I think the mini Pill is a lot better now. My GP tells me that the window to take it in is now 12 hours, rather than the 'same time every day' which it was when I was that age. AFAIK the mini Pill doesn't have as many of the risks of the other one.

DD is only 2.5 atm, so hopefully there'll be something 100% safe and reliable by then

Thanks batters & serenity.

For health reasons I have never been able to take the pill so all my knowedge of it is quite negative.

Biggest draw back, I imagine, is teenager forgetting to take it.

has anyone had any experience of implants?

I'd be wary of implants tbh. I had the injection and it made me very ill and I'd worry the implant would have the same effect. Obviously DD might not have the same problems, but I wouldn't feel able to recommend something I could get on with.

I've just gone back on the pill after being on it for 8 yrs prior to having DC. I went on it at 17 (after a termination, was using condoms but obviously not very well) and had no problems at all. I'd imagine it made my Mum a lot happier!

couldn't of course

One which is not recomended is the IUD if a woman hasn't had children or someone who isn't in a reasonably stable relationship (due to increased risk of pelvic infections)

Can I give another suggestion?
I have a memory like a sieve so my doctor suggested using patches. They have them same hormones as the pill but are absorbed through the skin and only need to be replaced once a week.
Works like a dream for me as i could never remember to take the pill but now I just program my mobile to remind me!!!

spursmum, programming a mobile to remind you seems like the ideal way to remind a teenager

Thanks everyone for your comments.

I think the pill, I found it good at that age as it helped regulate my cycles. I never missed it, I did not take it because I was sexually active a it happened, it was cos my cycles were so painful.
I have heard a lot of people gained weight or had side effects with the implant and epo, at least with an implant you can take it out though...

.

theres a patch now?

god i'm old

The Pill - sorts your periods out too, and is easily reversible, unlike injection or implants. At the very least implants/depo injection are highly likely to cause a lot of spotting/irregular bleeding the first few months, and of course could possibly have worse side effects. If it was a choice between injection or implants I would go for injection, as she wouldn't have to ask for it to be physically removed if she didn't like the side effects, unlike implants.

grumpyfrumpy, thanks for the link.

I would never recommend hormonal contraception to my DD, as they have seriously f*cked up my health. For safer sex reasons alone I would strongly push condoms. Problems with condoms, as I'm sure we're all aware, is that they get "forgotton" sometimes in the heat of the moment. For this reason I plan on keeping a stash of the morning after pill in the house when DD becomes sexually active.