Male contraception: What do women think?

Introduction. - Women currently bear the most responsibility in contraception, with a wide choice of methods, while only a few existing male contraceptives are available. However, it has been shown that men are willing to get involved in birth control and to control their own fertility. Our research was focused on female population and a survey was carried out to explore women's perceptions of male contraception. Methods. - An observational quantitative cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire was carried out between November 2019 and February 2020. All women aged from 16-years-old to menopause completing the questionnaire were included. Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted, qualitative variables were expressed as counts and frequency. Results. - In total, 379 interpretable completed questionnaires were included. Among the women, 69.7% were in favour of letting men deal with contraception, without referring to a specific method. After having been made aware of the medical information concerning existing male contraceptives and those in development, the proportion of women in favour dropped to 46.7%. The most acceptable method for a majority of women was the male pill, which is still being developed. The majority (78.4%) of the women in our survey felt insufficiently informed about male contraception.

Automated summary

This research explores women's perceptions of male contraception and finds that the majority of women support men taking responsibility for contraception. However, the proportion decreases after women are informed about existing and developing male contraceptives. The most acceptable method for women is the male pill, but there is a lack of knowledge about male contraception.