Sex, Satisfaction, and Switching: The Questions Contraceptive Research and Implementation Forgot to Ask

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters Podcast

On World Contraception Day, SRHM, in partnership with The Pleasure Project and WHO, hosted a powerful webinar launching a landmark systematic review: Sex, Satisfaction, and Switching: The Questions Contraceptive Research and Implementation Forgot to Ask.

This review provides the first systematic evidence on the extent to which sex life concerns influence contraceptive discontinuation and switching.

Key findings highlight that 1 in 20 contraceptive users discontinue while still in need due to the impact on their sex life. This rivals other commonly cited reasons such as cost and access, yet is rarely considered in counselling, research or policy. The review also shows just how little sexual acceptability has been studied in relation to contraceptive use – underscoring the urgent need to bring pleasure, intimacy and lived experience into sexual and reproductive health (SRH) research and practice.

Speakers included:

• Welcome by Sapna Desai | Editor-in-Chief, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM)

• Introductory poem by Theresa Mae Caragan | Youth Advisor, Plan International Pilipinas

• Dr Lianne Gonsalves | Scientist, Human Reproduction Special Programme (HRP), World Health Organization (WHO)

• Dr Faysal El Kak | President, World Association of Sexual Health and Director of the Women Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) Program Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American University of Beirut Medical Center

• Dr Samukeliso Dube | Executive Director, FP2030

• Moderated by Anne Philpott | Founder, The Pleasure Project

The contributions from the research team, global advocates and practitioners, as well as youth voices and poetry reminded us that pleasure is not a luxury, but a right tied to dignity, safety and self-worth.

Speakers called for urgent action to:

• Make pleasure a priority in the global SRHR agenda.
• Ask users directly about how methods affect their sex lives.
• Normalise positive framing of contraception as enabling safe and pleasurable sex.

This research represents a crucial step toward humanising contraceptive delivery, challenging over-medicalised narratives, and designing SRHR services that reflect people’s realities.

Read the full paper, 'The sex effect: the prevalence of sex life reasons for contraceptive discontinuation. A systematic review and meta-analysis' at srhmjournal.org.