The main problem with HIV today is stigma – and it is almost entirely based on outdated information and fear, says Mark Fisher of HIV+ support organisation Body Positive ahead of the World AIDS Day Festival which opens in Auckland tomorrow. A person living with HIV on effective treatment cannot pass it on. Yes, it’s … Read more
Alex Casey goes on a journey to find out all there is to know about what a “normal” vulva looks like. Spoiler alert: there are many, many versions of normal. The funniest and most embarrassing thing anyone has ever said to me in my whole life happened during my very first smear test. I was … Read more
International Women’s Day is a day to reflect on how far women have come, and how far we still have to go. Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond looks to the future and what sexual and reproductive health barriers remain to be overcome. In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding voting rights, … Read more
Contrary to popular belief, there is no biological evidence for “giving your body a break” from the pill. More than half of 18- to 19-year-old women in a recent survey agreed that “women should ‘take a break’ from oral contraceptive pills every couple of years”. You may be surprised to know there is no biological … Read more
There is a lot of confusion out there at the moment about the right way to take the contraceptive pill. Family Planning doctor Beth Messenger gives us the facts. The Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill has been in the news lately with Britain changing its official pill guidelines to reduce the risks of unplanned pregnancies. The … Read more
The second season of Married at First Sight NZ looks to walk queer representation down the aisle of mainstream New Zealand TV. Dejan Jotanovic writes about a significant misstep the series made this week. In episide seven of season two of MAFSNZ, Sam (the influencer) and Tayler (the not-influencer) have their first major bout of on-screen … Read more
A new consent education programme for secondary schools is well-intentioned, but it’s $18 million that would be better spent on teachers, argues health education specialist Katie Fitzpatrick ACC have just announced they will spend a further 18.4 million dollars on a programme called Mates and Dates for secondary schools. Mates and Dates was launched in 2016 and … Read more
This week is World Breastfeeding Week. Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes speaks to Family Planning doctor Beth Messenger about what contraception is the best to use while breastfeeding and after you’ve given birth. So you’ve had your baby, and if it was a relatively recent experience you’re probably thinking that your vagina will never be … Read more
Australian music lovers were dancing up a storm in Byron Bay two weekends ago – but many of them were also helping to bring down Australia’s sexually transmissible infection (STI) rate at the same time. Could this be an approach we adopt in New Zealand? Australia’s premier music festival Splendour in the Grass was held … Read more
‘Super-gonorrhoea’ has been reported in Australia, and experts say we’re next. How bad could it get, asks Don Rowe. What’s all this then? A historically resistant strain of gonorrhoea has made its way from South East Asia to the UK and Australia, and experts are warning we are next. Antibiotic resistant superbugs? They’re like climate … Read more
Teaching boys about sexual health, consent, and developing a culture of respect is vital to keeping all children safe. Frank Wilson McColl looks at the ways she’s trying to teach her sons about consent and respect. I used to be a young hip activist once upon a time (well, maybe I was never hip). But … Read more
News that the most popular contraceptive pill in New Zealand is running short has thousands of women quietly panicking. Rose Hoare runs down the reasons. A nationwide shortage of New Zealand’s most commonly used contraceptive pill threatens to unleash hordes of pimply, angry, horny women with deflated boobs and heavier-than-usual flow, just in time for … Read more
What Catholic high schools teach teenage girls about sex affects them for years to come. 21-year-old Lucy Kelly looks back on her Catholic education. So here’s me aged 14. We’ve just been handed our forms for the Gardasil vaccine. A public health nurse explains that the vaccine is most effective for HPV contracted by sexual … Read more
In 1961, the ‘Pill’ became available in New Zealand and women’s lives were changed forever. Being able to control your fertility was now a matter of choice. But not everyone was judged worthy of making that choice. This story was first published on radionz.co.nz. Carol’s Story In 1966 “Carol” was young, single, sexually active and in … Read more
Cassia Mor talks to women about sex after babies – the good, the bad and the in-between. I talked to 10 women about sex after childbirth and the differences in their responses were quite amazing. It became clear that for these women – like me – so many factors came into play in their journey back … Read more
Is the daily anti-abortion vigil for Lent a peaceful, prayer-focused protest, or is it more intimidating than that? Alex Braae reports. Every day when staff from the Auckland Medical Aid Centre go to work they are stared at. Across the road a rotating group of people wait for them in the morning and they’re still … Read more
Having sex can be daunting after childbirth for most mothers. But what do you do when it doesn’t get easier? Cassia Mor writes about her quest to finally have sex without pain. I thought the recovery from my child’s birth would be easier than the birth itself. I was wrong. My baby was born by … Read more
New Zealand’s rates of sexually transmitted infections like chlamydia are some of the highest in the Western world. That’s the bad news, says Siouxsie Wiles – the good news is that we can begin fixing the problem just by being more frank about our genitalia and what it does. Lady parts. Bits. Flower. Front bottom. … Read more