Use of contraception by women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus: ‘It's funny that nobody really spoke to me about it’

ABSTRACT

Objectives To understand factors which promote or discourage use of contraception in women with diabetes mellitus (DM). To identify contraceptive knowledge, skills and attitudes of health professionals involved in diabetes care.

Methods The research formed part of a larger mixed methods study and included a questionnaire survey (107 women with DM) and semi-structured qualitative interviews with women with DM (n = 16) and diabetes specialists (n = 16). Analysis was by SPSS and NVivo 7.

Results Two main themes emerged: Contraceptive provision and advice and Choice of contraceptive methods. There was incongruence in views between the diabetes specialists and women with DM in relation to advice and use of contraception. Many diabetes specialists felt unqualified to give advice and saw general practitioners as contraception providers. There was low use of long-acting reversible contraceptives, and women used ‘natural’ methods in their wish to ‘avoid taking hormones or chemicals’.

Conclusions Despite awareness of the need to plan pregnancies to avoid poor outcomes, women with DM are likely to receive little advice about their contraceptive options. Contraception should evidently be a legitimate part of diabetes care and diabetes specialists require training to enable them to assist women in making their own informed choices.

KEYWORDS:

• Contraception
• Women with diabetes
• Diabetes specialists
• Knowledge
• Attitudes
• Behaviour

acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the staff and women with diabetes who participated in this research study.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.