THE proportion of women in Northumberland on long-term contraception fell by more than a tenth following the pandemic, new figures show.

It follows the national trend, with the figures revealing 9 per cent fewer women had access to long-acting reversible contraception in 2022 than in 2019, before the pandemic.

MSI Reproductive Choices, a non-governmental organisation providing reproductive healthcare, said while Covid-19 added pressure on healthcare services, many of the issues go back even further, with sexual and reproductive healthcare severely underfunded.

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Office for Health Improvement and Disparities figures show 61.6 per 1,000 women in Northumberland aged between 15 and 44 were prescribed long-acting reversible contraception in 2022 – which includes the non-hormonal copper coil, hormonal coil, and the hormonal implant.

This was down from 72.7 in 2019, but an increase from 59.3 per 1,000 women the year before.

Simphiwe Sesane, MSI Reproductive Choice's UK contraceptive and sexual health nurse consultant, said: "Finding the right contraception is transformative, yet too many are still struggling to get the information and support they need, particularly for long-acting methods like the coil and implant.

“These are some of the most effective ways of preventing unintended pregnancy and lack of access will no doubt be contributing to the unprecedented demand we are seeing for abortion care.”

Health and Social Care Secretary, Victoria Atkins, said: "From December, oral contraception is now available on more high streets, using our pharmacists to their full potential - making it faster, simpler and fairer for women to access this healthcare."