‘You Will Have These Ones!’: Six Women’s Experiences of Being Pressured to Make a Contraceptive Choice That Did Not Feel Right

• Main Authors: Rosalind Waller, Michael Tholander, Doris Nilsson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-09-01
• Series: Social Sciences
• Subjects: contraceptive choice; contraceptive counselling; communicative skills; self-efficacy; interpretative phenomenological analysis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/6/4/114

This study aims to contribute to an understanding of women’s experiences of contraceptive counselling, and of being pressured to make a contraceptive choice that did not feel right. Six women in Sweden participated in semi-structured interviews, which were analysed through interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results were organised into three themes: (1) The normalisation process, i.e., the ways in which the women experienced using the contraceptive were being promoted as a natural part of womanhood; (2) Drawing the shortest straw, i.e., the women’s experiences of encountering insensitive caregivers; and (3) Feeling like a guinea pig, i.e., the women’s sense of not being allowed to control the situation and make their own choices. In conclusion, the experience of not being respected in the healthcare system could lead to consequences not only for women’s sense of self-efficacy with regard to contraceptives, but also for their willingness to engage in renewed counselling. The caregivers’ communicative skills are, therefore, of prime importance.