Increasing access to contraception in New Zealand: assessing the impact of a new funding initiative.

Aim: This paper offers a grassroots view of the impact of a recent government initiative designed to increase access to contraception and improve health and social outcomes for women in New Zealand.

Method: District health board and primary health organisation project leads were contacted to request information on how each region had chosen to configure contraception services under the new contract in August 2019, a month after the rollout of the initiative, and again in August 2020. In addition, feedback from individual general practitioners was sought via social media groups.

Barriers to the prescription of LARCs in general practice in New Zealand-a qualitative research study.

Aim: New Zealand has a high rate of unplanned pregnancy but a low rate of uptake of long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs), the most effective forms of contraception. This study aims to determine some of the barriers faced by general practitioners in New Zealand who wish to offer LARCs to their patients.

Methods: General practitioners (n=17) were interviewed for this qualitative research study.