Contraception for mothers of newborn babies can often be overlooked amidst the focus on the health of the newborn baby and the significant adjustments required following the birth of the child.
A Monash University-led study has found that early access to contraception information and services postnatally can support family planning and encourage adequate spacing between pregnancies, ensuring better health outcomes for both mothers and babies. This can help avoid unintended pregnancies.
The study delved into the views and experiences of 23 Australian GPs providing contraceptive care during the ‘6-week check’.
Senior author, Dr Jessica Botfield, said GPs were well placed to deliver contraceptive care, including provision of information and education, which new mothers needed to support their decision-making.
Dr Botfield suggested that discussions about contraception should be an essential part of the 6-week check and other postnatal check-ups with GPs.
“Access to contraception information and services to plan for and space pregnancies is critical, particularly in the postpartum period when women may be at risk of an unintended pregnancy soon after giving birth,” Dr Botfield said.
The GPs interviewed in the study made several suggestions on how to overcome the challenges of providing postpartum contraceptive care including:
- Development of national guidelines for postpartum contraceptive care (note: the recently-updated RACGP ‘Red Book’ now refers to contraception in their ‘interconception’ chapter, which provides some guidance for GPs)
- Prioritising collaboration with other maternity providers, including midwives and child and family health nurses
- Improving access to contraceptive education and training for GPs, including for long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods such as IUDs and implants
- Provision of financial incentives for GPs to upskill/undertake contraception and LARC training.
Use your Tonic TV to communicate to mothers
If your practice has a Tonic TV, we can help you promote your services and important messages. You have access to 3 minutes every hour to promote your practice using either static slides or supplying us with videos of a 30 or 60 second duration.
A slide appears on screen for 15 seconds and can promote important information such as: Operating hours, new staff , services offered such as screenings, regular checkups, local health updates, seasonal vaccination reminders, special events and clinics.
We can create the slides for you. Simply contact us with the information you’d like to share on screens, and we will design slides to promote your practice.
Further information
General practitioners’ views and experiences of postpartum contraception counselling and provision, a qualitative study: Medical Journal of Australia
