A Clinical Quality Advisor at reproductive health services company, Marie Stopes Ghana says the mindset that prolonged use of contraceptives causes infertility is nothing but a misconception.

According to Mary Dornukwor Teye, even though some types of contraceptives have side effects, infertility is not one of them.

She added that only permanent contraceptives completely prevent the individual from getting pregnant again, adding that it is a conscious decision made by the individual.

“Pregnancy will definitely occur, so contraceptives do not cause infertility and that’s a serious misconception out there, they prevent you from getting pregnant for just a period, once the period is over you can get pregnant again," Madam Teye said on Thursday.

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“If you’re not getting pregnant there might be other factors that you need to look at, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the contraception that is causing that, no contraceptive causes infertility except the permanent methods that I said will not make you pregnant,” she emphasised.

Speaking on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning, the expert explained that some types of contraceptives can lead to delayed pregnancies.

This means users who plan on getting pregnant at a particular time must stop the usage of the contraceptive earlier to align with the time they would be ready.

“What I’ll be quick to add on is the 3-month injectable contraceptive, for that one there’s what we call ‘delay in return to fertility’, when you go off it, it might take a while for you to get pregnant which is a side effect”…

"So what a counselor will tell you is that if you’re on that method and you want to get pregnant, then go off it early, you can’t go off it today and get pregnant today," she advised.

She mentioned that regarding contraceptives with side effects, they can be reversed or the body returns to its normal state once there is terminated use.

“When you go off this method, whatever side effect you’re feeling may get back to normal, so if you’re not menstruating because you’re on a particular hormonal method, once you stop using it your menses resumes”, she mentioned.

The Clinical Advisor encouraged all individuals, especially teenagers that are sexually active to undergo family planning methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies and disregard all the myths surrounding the use of contraceptives.