Theme 1: contraceptive methods
| Knowledge of contraceptive methods | “Contraceptive methods mostly work to, well the condom works to avoid a sexually transmitted disease but talking about the pill, the implant, the IUD [intrauterine device], um yeah many methods like that work to prevent a pregnancy.” (20–25) “I never asked because I, well I wasn’t planning on using hormonal contraceptives anymore, the last one I used was hormonal and I didn’t like it … we ended up preferring a vasectomy.” (30–35) |
| Perceived importance of contraception | “Well, yes, because if I ended up pregnant it’s my understanding that the medication I’m taking could hurt the baby and myself, so yeah, that’s why I have to use some method of contraception.” (20–25) |
| Safety of contraceptive methods | “I’ve heard that the IUD is one … Um, when I went to the health center they give some talks and they say it’s one of the safest ones, um, in my case I disagree because I had it and ended up pregnant … Well, they’ve told me no method es 100% safe.” (25–30) “It depends on whether you visit your rheumatologists and it depends on your disease … Obviously a barrier method is always recommended because of sexually transmitted diseases … It depends on tastes and preferences.” (20–25) “I’m not sure, I really don’t know which [methods] could interfere. I’ve never wondered if my arthritis could interfere with some method.” (20–25) “Side effects related to my disease is something I don’t know anything about and I would like to know, but I mean I also know that there are side effects for any person taking contraceptives.” (30–35) |
| Factors influencing the choice of method | “My mom helped me decide. She gave me advice. I’ve always said ‘I have lupus.’ When I was in the hospital they told me at that moment, when they about to take me to the operating room they said ‘which device do you want?’ and I asked ‘I have lupus, is there a problem with which one I choose or any recommendation?’ They’re not that flexible here, they don’t give good explanations, they just told me ‘whichever one you want is fine or if you want to choose injections or pills, it’s your choice’ and I wasn’t that interested in the injections because of my disease, what if they triggered something, and I chose the IUD.” (20–25) |
| Accessibility | “I mean it can be in any health center or if you have some type of insurance then wherever they tell you or even if you have IMSS [Mexican Institute of Social Security] you can go to a, um, to a preventive medicine unit … When they gave me mine they did give me a prescription … I went to ask for it at the pharmacy, then I went up for my consultation and that’s where they applied it.” (20–25) |