Contraception does not cause weight gain, say experts

New guidance states there is 'no evidence' that taking contraception will make women gain weight

Joanna Whitehead
Tuesday 27 August 2019 05:58 EDT
Comments
Many women are reluctant to take contraception for fear of weight gain
Many women are reluctant to take contraception for fear of weight gain (istock)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Women have no reason to fear that taking contraception will make them gain weight, according to experts.

The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) have released new guidance which debunks the myth that weight gain is a common side effect of contraceptive use, a perception often cited by women as a reason for not using contraception.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the FSRH conclude that there is no evidence that intrauterine contraception (the IUD and IUS), the implant, the progestogen-only pill or combined hormonal contraception (the combined pill, the patch and the vaginal ring) cause significant weight gain.

Rather, women of reproductive age tend to gain weight over time, regardless of their use of contraception, it states.

The organisation also states that the use of hormonal contraception helps with heavy, painful periods.

Dr Sarah Hardman, director of the Clinical Effectiveness Unit of the FSRH, said: “In studies, women gain on average a similar amount of weight over time whether they are using hormonal contraception or not.

“In other words, women may gain some weight during use of a contraceptive method, but so, on average, do women who are not using contraception.“

“The studies don’t rule out the possibility that some women might gain some extra weight when they are using the contraceptive injection, but we don’t know for certain. It should be said that we do see lots of women who don’t put on weight while they are using the injection.”

Average weight gained during the use of contraceptive pills, the implant and the hormonal coil is “modest” and not significantly different to weight gained when not taking contraception, Dr Hardman added.

The information has been shared in an effort to ensure women have the correct information to avoid unplanned pregnancies.

Dr Hardman emphasised the different experiences of women when using contraception and encouraged them to discuss the available options with their contraceptive provider if one method is not suitable.

Public Health England has reported that rates of obesity are increasing among women of reproductive age.

According to their findings, around 19 per cent of women of reproductive age in England are obese, 3.6 per cent are severely obese, and of these obese women 5.3 per cent will become pregnant each year.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in