Womens' Experience with EC
If healthcare providers are not informing women of EC and major publicity campaigns have not taken place to promote EC, then misinformation or lack of awareness is inevitable. In the above mentioned study Bell & Millward (1999) found that most of the participants mentioned their primary source of EC information as friends or peers while health professionals were not considered a resource. Many of the younger women did not list school as a source of information and the older women preferred to consult a friend rather than a health professional (Bell & Millward). If women do not feel comfortable with health professionals then they will confide in friends which can be unreliable sources, where EC is considered. The sources that women are resulting to for information can lead to greater misinformation and create myths about EC that are not necessarily true. Healthcare providers must be properly trained to inform women of EC, as healthcare professionals it is their responsibility to provide women with information and services, which will allow women to have control over their reproduction. The necessity to study what healthcare professionals know about EC and how likely they are to share this information with patients could provide an insight as to whether healthcare providers are facilitators or barriers to EC access.
