The Contraceptive Implant

• The contraceptive implant can be inserted at any time in your cycle as long as there is no risk of pregnancy. The ideal time is day 1-5 of a natural cycle.
• After Day 5, you can still have an implant fitted if you have not had any unprotected sex since the start of your period. If you have had unprotected sex after day 5, you may be at risk of pregnancy so you will need to speak to a doctor.
• If you have been using a hormonal method of contraception (such as the Combined Pill, Progestogen-Only-Pill, depot injection or implant), consistently and correctly (with no missed pills and your injection or implant is not overdue), the implant can be fitted at any convenient time, and you do not need to abstain from sex before your fitting.  If you are taking the pill, continue to take it as instructed up until the day of fitting and for at least a week after.
• If you are not having periods AND are not using any form of contraception, ideally, you need to abstain from having ANY unprotected intercourse in the 3 weeks prior to your insertion, otherwise you will need to speak to a doctor.
• If you wish to replace an implant that has not yet expired, we can remove and insert a new device at any convenient time, and you do not need to abstain from sex before your fitting.  If you wish to replace an implant that has expired, this can be fitted if you have not had unprotected sex for 3 weeks, otherwise, you will need to speak to a doctor.
• If you have had a contraceptive injection, you will need to have your implant inserted before the injection runs out (which is 14 weeks from the last injection).  We can still fit an implant after 14 weeks ONLY if you have not had any unprotected sex or have been using an alternative method of contraception consistently and correctly.
• If you already have a coil in place, we will prefer to fit the implant before removing the coil. The coil can then be removed after 7 days.  It is quite safe to have both methods running together.