How can youth-friendly providers address the fact that contraceptive use is low among adolescents?
The reasons for low contraceptive use among adolescents are varied and often complex. They include psychological, social, and lifestyle factors. Adolescents have provided the following insights as to why they are poor contraceptors: • Negative attitudes on the part of providers often pose a barrier to service use and continuation of contraception. • Adolescents often don’t plan and may not expect to have sex. • They think they are not vulnerable to pregnancy: “It can’t happen to me.” • They fear rejection by their partner. • Ambivalence about becoming pregnant and cultural expectations about marriage and motherhood or fatherhood may discourage contraceptive use. • They fear being or becoming infertile because of contraceptive use or find it difficult to cope with pressure to “prove” their fertility. • They receive inadequate information about reproduction, contraception, or pregnancy risk. • They don’t know where to get contraceptives. • They want to hide sexual relations or contracept
