Why are women turning to TikTok for advice about the pill? Because doctors won’t listen to us::To counter social-media conspiracy theories, we need more honest information about contraception and its side-effects, says writer Kate Muir

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    Freedom of information requests reveal contraceptive coil-fitting waiting lists of months in the UK, and up to a year in parts of Devon and Northern Ireland.

    Over the last 60 years, the advent of reliable contraception has brought women into education and the workplace as never before, and rescued millions from debilitating period pain, gargantuan bleeds and other miserable conditions – as well as increasing the joy of sex.

    Most people choosing to go on the pill or have an implant or injection are schoolgirls: 64% start hormonal contraception as teenagers, and TikTok is infinitely more powerful than a one-hour sex education class.

    They’re watching Love Island influencers using the Natural Cycles app, measuring their basal body temperatures every morning, and staying miraculously free of synthetic hormones and pregnancies.

    Jennifer Takhar at the ISG International Business School in Paris recently published a paper on the reasons behind falling pill prescription rates in western Europe, and says: “Our research shows that peers on social media are influencing young women’s choices, and reshaping perceptions of risk and side-effects, and at the same time social media is delegitimising the authority of health professionals.”

    Takhar’s team interviewed women in Denmark and Germany about their growing concerns voiced on social media, and the trend towards fertility awareness methods and “green sex”.


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