A Queen’s Student Guide to Contraception & Sexual Health

Whether you’re new to Queen’s, returning for another year, or just trying to figure out what sexual and reproductive health services are available around campus, knowing where to start can make accessing care a lot less overwhelming. The good news? You have several options available. 

A quick note: This is a student-written guide to contraception and how to access it while you’re at Queen’s, not a substitute for individualized medical advice. Contraceptive options are not one-size fits-all and can work differently for different people, so a healthcare provider or pharmacist can help you decide what is appropriate for you!  

This guide covers: 

• Contraception basics 

• Where to access contraceptive care 

• Helpful resources 

First things first: What is contraception (aka birth control)?

These are methods used to prevent pregnancy. There are many options, and there isn't a universally “best”. The right choice depends on various factors including your health, preferences, how often you are considering contraception, and whether want protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) with your contraceptive choice. 

Some methods are used every time you have sex, while others are taken daily, weekly, monthly, every few months, or years. Some methods use hormones to prevent ovulation, some create a physical barrier between sperm and an egg, and others make it more difficult for sperm to reach or fertilize an egg. 

So... what are the options? 

 Hormonal methods include: 

• The pill: The birth control pill is a small tablet taken orally on a regular schedule, usually every day. 

• The patch: A small adhesive patch placed onto the skin that’s replaced every 1-3 weeks. 

• The vaginal ring: A flexible ring inserted inside your vagina, changed on a regular schedule but typically worn for several weeks at a time.  

• The injection: Administered by a healthcare provider into your shoulder muscle approximately every three months. 

• Hormonal Intrauterine Device (IUD) and Intrauterine System (IUS): A small device inserted into the uterus by a healthcare provider and providing contraception for several years via hormone use. 

Non-hormonal option: 

• Copper IUD: A hormone-free device inserted into the uterus by a healthcare provider, using copper to prevent pregnancy instead of hormones.  

Barrier methods:  

• External and internal condoms: External condoms refer to the typical penile condom you’re used to seeing in sex-ed or being given away for free around campus (worn over the penis), whereas internal condoms are flexible barriers placed inside the vagina up to 8 hours before sex. Both internal and external condoms when used correctly can prevent both pregnancy and STIs. 

• Failure rates of external condoms:  XXX

• Failure rates of internal condoms:  XXX

• The Sponge: A small disposable foam device that is placed in the vagina before sex, providing both a physical barrier over the cervix while trapping and destroying sperm cells with the device’s spermicide. Protection begins immediately upon insertion and lasts up to 24 hours. It comes in one size and is sold over the counter at pharmacies.  

• Diaphragms and cervical caps: These are barrier methods that are placed inside the vagina and sit over the cervix, helping prevent sperm from entering the uterus. They are generally used along with spermicide (a product that slows down and kills sperm cell membranes) to prevent pregnancy. 

• Spermicide: Purchasable without a prescription at a pharmacy, spermicide film comes in all kinds of forms (gel, cream foam and more). It needs to be inserted at least 15 minutes before sex to be effective and works by destroying the sperm cell membrane in the vagina.  

The “pull out” method: 

• What is it: Withdrawing the penis before ejaculation to prevent sperm from entering the vagina. 

• Failure rate: The pull-out method is difficult to complete perfectly and is therefore not a reliable or recommended method to prevent pregnancy. When considering factors such as timing mistakes and pre-cum (pre-ejaculate, a fluid released before ejaculation often containing sperm), the failure rate of pulling out is roughly 20%.  

A helpful resource for navigating contraception that is right for you: Sex & U provides detailed information about these methods and their advantages, disadvantages, and effectiveness including its tool It’s a Plan to help you make more personalized decisions about contraception. 

How effective is birth control? 

This is where things can get a little confusing. You'll often hear about “perfect use” versus typical use”, let’s break these down: 

• Perfect use means the method is used exactly as directed every time 

• Typical use reflects how effective the contraceptive method is in real life, including things like missed pills and condoms breaking. 

Hormonal IUDs have very low failure rates with both typical and perfect use, while methods that require more action from the user (like taking oral birth control) tend to have a larger difference between perfect and typical use. 

Here’s the takeaway: Don't choose a method solely based on a ranking of effectiveness. A method that fits your life and that you can use consistently may be a much better option for you than one that sounds “more effective” but doesn't actually work with your preferences or circumstances. 

Contraception at Queen’s 

Connect with your health care provider at home (your family doctor or nurse practitioner) 

Queen's Student Wellness Services (SWS) offers contraception method appointments with Primary Care Providers! Queen’s students can book a medical appointment to discuss birth control, including hormonal and non-hormonal IUDs. SWS also provides other safer sex related services, including STI testing and treatment as well as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) for eligible students (HIV prevention medication). 

Visit Book Now | Student Wellness for more details and how to book an appointment.  

Queen's Sexual Health Resource Centre (SHRC) is another great on-campus resource. It provides confidential, non-judgmental, sex-positive and queer-positive sexual health information and referrals. This is a great starting point if you're not sure what kind of support you're looking for, or just want to ask questions in a low barrier setting. 

What about getting contraception from a pharmacy? 

Once you have a prescription, it is typically faxed by the providers office directly to your preferred pharmacy or you can take it in person. 

If you're paying out of pocket, remember that the cost of a contraceptive prescription can depend on the medication, your insurance coverage, and pharmacy fees. You may have coverage through supplementary health insurance (whether that be through AMS, SGPS, a parent’s insurance, etc.), while some people under 25 with OHIP may qualify for OHIP+. 

Tip: If cost is a concern, ask the pharmacist or healthcare provider about coverage and lower-cost alternatives rather than assuming you'll have to pay the full price! 

Emergency contraception

Emergency contraception (EC) is an option for you, taken after sex when contraception wasn't used or didn’t work out quite as expected. 

One thing to note, timing matters: EC works best when taken as soon as possible, the morning-after pill needs to be taken within five days, with earlier use being better (effectiveness is highest when taken within 24 hours of unprotected sex).  

There are different forms of emergency contraception, but the morning-after pill or “Plan B” is the most common form. There are different kinds of morning-after pills, with the most common being found in pharmacies and purchased without a prescription. This includes Plan B, Norlevo, Option 2, and Next Choice. Something to note: Bodyweight may impact how effective the typical over the counter morning-after pill is if you weigh over 165 pounds. 

Prescription morning-after pills are now available in Canada, and may be a better option for you if you weigh more than 165 pounds or are looking for something that is effective over a longer period of time following unprotected sex (up to 5 days). If this is something you’re interested in looking into, talk to a healthcare provider to see if it's right for you to access a prescription.  

Little-known fact: a copper IUD can also be used as emergency contraception if inserted by a healthcare professional within 7 days of unprotected sex, and it provides ongoing contraception afterward! 

Time for some myth-busting about emergency contraception:  

1. Emergency contraception does not end an existing pregnancy. It works primarily by preventing or delaying ovulation.  

2. Using emergency contraception frequently does not make it less effective for future use, there is no medical limit to how many times you can use EC. That being said, having using regular contraception is always a good idea to prevent pregnancy. 

3. Using emergency contraception does not make it more difficult for you to get pregnant in the future. 

4. Emergency contraception does not protect future unprotected sex, if you have unprotected sex in the following days from taking the morning-after pill it will not prevent pregnancy. 

See Sex & U — Emergency Contraception for more detailed information on the types of morning-after pills available in Canada and Copper IUD’s as EC.  

Termination of Pregnancy 

Abortion pills can be prescribed through SWS healthcare providers, while referrals (by self-referral or through a physician) can also be made to Lakeside Clinic in Kingston to access abortion services.  

Don't forget: contraception ≠ STI protection 

Most forms of contraception are designed to prevent pregnancy, not STIs. 

Condoms can help reduce the risk of STI transmission, although they don't eliminate the risk entirely. If STI prevention is important to you, consider combining contraception with barrier protection and ensure to get tested for STIs. STI testing is especially if you have multiple partners, when you get a new partner, or you’re having unprotected sex (even if you’re not, regular checkups if you’re sexually active are important too!). 

Sources: Name of source and links, link citations to the photo, ALT text descriptions 

NHS: How well contraception works at preventing pregnancy: https://www.nhs.uk/contraception/choosing-contraception/how-well-it-works-at-preventing-pregnancy/  

Learn about OHIP+: https://www.ontario.ca/page/learn-about-ohip-plus  

HealthLinkBC; Reducing Medication Costs: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthwise/reducing-medication-costs  

ScienceInsights: https://scienceinsights.org/how-effective-is-the-pull-out-method-really/