12 - Contraception in the 30-somethings

Summary

Age alone is not a contraindication to any method of contraception. A reasonably common scenario in the mid-30s is that women who reach the age of 35 and smoke have to stop taking the combined oral contraceptive (COC) pill. A woman needs to consider whether to use a hormonal or non-hormonal method, whether she can commit to methods requiring daily, weekly, monthly or less frequent attention and which potential side effects she finds acceptable. The seven day pill-free interval (PFI) was chosen to ensure that the majority of women would start to bleed before they were due to start their next packet. In the context of postponing periods (as opposed to withdrawal bleeds), it is worth noting that new information has been incorporated into the Summary of Product Characteristics of PrimolutN, a commonly prescribed formulation of norethisterone 5mg, used for the postponement of periods in women not using COCs.