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Source: WHO, 2004.
Slide 77
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A World Health Organization technical working group reviewed
the scientific literature and determined that there are no medical
reasons to deny a young person any contraceptive method based
on age alone. The group created international guidelines for
medical eligibility criteria, classifying specific known conditions
into one of four categories:
- The method can be used without restrictions
- The method can generally be used
- The method is not usually recommended
- The method should not be used.
As the slide shows, when considering young age and parity,
all modern contraceptives can be used without restriction or
can generally be used. The category 2 applies to progestin-only
injectables for young women under age 18 and to the IUD when
used by women who are under 20 and nulliparous. No methods fall
into category 3 (usually not recommended) or category 4 (presents
an unacceptable risk) based on young age alone. There are no
medical restrictions based on age for traditional methods or
LAM. Of course, the category of nulliparous is not relevant
for LAM, since a woman has to have given birth to use this method.
As mentioned earlier, sterilization is generally not an appropriate
method for youth.
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