It could even have been a while since you even thought to discuss what’s out there with your doctor.

Medical Director of Family Planning New South Wales Deborah Bateson explains there are plenty of things to consider if you haven’t thought about contraception in a while – and more than a few things that you might be getting wrong.

Traditional contraceptives

Starting with the old-fashioned condom, Bateson says it shouldn’t be your go-to contraceptive.

“The thing with condoms, they’re fantastic for preventing STIs like chlamydia but they’re not the most effective form of contraceptive we’ve got,” says Bateson.

“We do like to always suggest this doubling up, combining your effective method of contraception with a condom at the same time.”

Bateson adds that condoms are still a very important form of contraception if there are no alternatives, or if you feel you might be at risk of STIs.

While there isn’t a lot of data about Australian women’s use of contraceptives, Bateson says about a third of women in the country choose the combined pill as their main form of contraception.

While most of us know the drill - there are plenty of different pills out there, if one doesn’t suit you can try another - there are a couple of things you might not know about your daily dose of hormones.

“Perhaps one of the key things is that it’s our understanding now that it’s very safe to actually run your pill packs together, so to skip the sugar pill,” says Bateson.

Women have been doing it for years apparently and normally run three together, but Bateson says if you like you can skip even more periods.

“We’ve got good evidence that it’s safe - and a very useful strategy for women - to run as many as a year’s worth of pills together so they can avoid that withdrawal bleed and pain in that pill-free break so I think that’s an important new development,” says Bateson.

“And women can feel reassured that it’s a safe thing to do.”

Another form of contraceptive that works just like the pill is the vaginal ring (NuvaRing) but you have the added benefit of being able to place it and forget about it for three weeks.

“We’ve done quite a lot of studies on the vaginal ring over the years, women will feel a bit worried about it: they’re not used to having something in the vagina but often what we find is once women have used it they actually feel very accepting of it and very happy with it,” says Bateson, adding that the seven-day ring-free period can also be skipped for up to twelve months, just like the pill.

Long-acting contraceptives

Less commonly used in Australia, despite very large uptake overseas, are Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs).

LARCs, which include intrauterine devices (IUDs) and the implant, are highly cost-effective and also the most effective form of contraception - most are more than 99.9 per cent effective.

"These long-acting reversible contraceptives are very effective because it takes away that need to remember to do something," says Bateson.

The other benefit of LARCs is that unlike permanent methods (like vastectomies) they are completely reversible.

"Once you remove an implant or an IUD your fertility returns to normal," says Bateson.

However only 10 per cent of Australian women use LARCs compared to much higher figures in Europe, and Bateson says the low uptake has a lot to do with misinformation.

She says the contraceptive implant Implanon is a very safe method of contraception that can be used by women of all reproductive ages groups, and can be left in for up to three years.

It is a thin plastic rod inserted under the skin in the upper arm which releases very low doses of progestogen, stopping ovulation.

There are, Bateson says, some persistent rumours about the implant that simply aren't true.

She says concerns the implant could migrate to other places are completely false, and the implant isn't associated with weight gain any more than the combined pill.

What they actually do is thin out the lining of the uterus, which can result is some more unpredictable bleeding.

"One in five [women] will have no bleeding at all for the whole time, about three out of five will have something like a regular bleeding pattern, but we do know that around about one in five women will have troublesome bleeding," says Bateson.

If you are the one in five unlucky enough to have 'troublesome bleeding', it's not the end of the world.

Bateson says there are management options, and you can talk to your doctor about ways to mitigate the problem without removing the implant (although that is also an option).

IUDs are even less frequently by Australian women, despite the fact that the Copper IUD has been around for decades.

It releases no hormones and is more than 99 per cent effective, but it can make periods slightly heavier and more painful.

One major benefit of the Copper IUD is that it's also an effective form of emergency contraception, if it's inserted within five days of having unprotected sex.

There is also a hormone-releasing IUD called Mirena, which is just as effective as the copper IUD but actually reduces bleeding, or stops it all together.

"Really it’s a very excellent product," says Bateson.

"We do use [the hormone-releasing] IUD for therapeutic reasons, for women who have heavy menstrual bleeding and other reasons as well."

Another big plus about all LARCs is that they're extremely cost-effective. The most expensive one is the copper IUD (the only one not on the PBS) which costs around $100, but lasts for five years so it still works out to be pretty cheap.

Other myths to clear up

Bateson says the emergency contraceptive pill is a very safe drug, and easy to get from a pharmacist.

She says the emergency pill doesn't cause an abortion; what it actually does is prevent ovulation from occuring.

And if the idea of switching contraceptives worries you, Bateson says it's totally fine to change to something that will suit you much better.

"If you do need to switch there isn’t a problem with that," says Bateson.

"What we don’t want is to have a gap, a 'pill holiday', to give your body a break: it certainly puts you at risk of an unintended pregnancy, and there’s no good reason at all to have a break from the pill," says Bateson.

"In an ideal world you’d start contraception and find something that suits you perfectly," says Bateson.

"But it can sometimes be a bit of trial and error for some people, and they do need to try a variety of methods before they find the one that’s going to suit them," says Bateson, "so the main thing is to have as much information as possible."

Bateson says your GP should be well trained to answer your questions, you can look up the information on the Family Planning fact sheets or you can also speak to nurses on their dedicated hotline.