The work of contracepting: young people's experiences and practices with contraceptives in Sweden.

The prevention of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, or contracepting, is usually treated as a medical or health issue rather than a social one. As such, a lot of the everyday work that goes into contracepting remains unseen and unrecognised. Young people in particular are often spoken about rather than spoken to when it comes to their contraceptive use. This needs to change. Instead, as I suggest throughout my research, we need to listen more to young people and take their perspectives on contraceptives seriously.

My PhD thesis departs from the accounts and stories of thirteen young women, men, and non-binary people between the ages of 18 to 29 with different sexual identities living in Sweden. It casts light the invisible everyday work that is fundamental to young people’s contracepting experiences and practices. This study provides an important shift in perspective and new insights into the social phenomenon of contraception. Ultimately, it considers how we can better support each other in doing work of contracepting, not only as medical professionals, educators, and policymakers, but as partners, family, and friends.