Abstract
The medical eligibility criteria (MEC) are a set of recommendations that help consideration of possible contraceptive methods that can safely be used by women with a range of medical conditions and characteristics to prevent unintended pregnancy. Whilst most women can safely use any method, there are some conditions that may be associated with a potential increase in health risks when certain methods are used. The World Health Organization produces MEC for global use and the USA and UK have adapted these for use in their settings. MEC are regularly reviewed and updated by a rigorous process. There are a range of resources available to support the MEC that aim to improve usability and so help promote evidence-based contraceptive provision in practice. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the MEC and through use of case examples illustrate how to correctly use the MEC in clinical practice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
WHO. Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use. Fifth edition. https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/family_planning/MEC-5/en/.
US Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use 2016. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/mmwr/mec/summary.html.
FSRH UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (UK MEC). www.fsrh.org.
Emergency contraception wheel. http://www.ec-ec.org/new-tool-for-ec-counselling/.
WHO selected practice recommendations for contraceptive use. https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/family_planning/SPR-3/en/.
US selected practice recommendations for contraceptive use. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/pdfs/n6504.pdf.
Family Planning—A global handbook for providers 2018 edition. https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/fp-global-handbook/en/.
Implementation Guide for the Medical Eligibility Criteria and Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use Guidelines. https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/family_planning/mec-spr-implementation-guide/en/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hardman, S., Cameron, S. (2021). Medical Eligibility Criteria. In: Meriggiola, M.C., Gemzell-Danielsson, K. (eds) Female and Male Contraception. Trends in Andrology and Sexual Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70932-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70932-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-70931-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-70932-7
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)