Six Facts to Include When Giving Your Daughter “The Talk”

Having ‘the talk’ with your daughter can be awkward, but not knowing what to include in that talk can have a huge impact on her sexual health and wellbeing. Here are six facts about sexual wellness that you should talk about with your teenage daughter.

1. Using a condom isn’t as easy or as effective as you think. According to Paul Fine, MD, associate professor of gynaecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, ‘A couple may not put on a condom until the last minute, and in the heat of passion, he might not have the control he usually has, so that’s never foolproof.’ You can get pregnant before he ejaculates, Dr Fine adds, as pre-ejaculate is ‘loaded with sperm.’

2. Emergency contraception is available if you have unprotected sex or the condom breaks. You might want to purchase it in advance of needing it, just so you have it on hand in an emergency.

3. The young adult age group has a high risk for STDs. 15-24 year olds represent 25% of the sexually active population, but 50% of new STD cases. STD expert H. Hunter Handsfield, MD, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Washington, says, ‘Young people ought to get tested once a year for HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhoea.’

4. The symptoms of STDs aren’t always apparent. You can have gonorrhoea, chlamydia, hepatitis, HIV, and syphilis without having any obvious symptoms, but these diseases can be very destructive to your wellness over a long period of time. Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, an STD specialist at the University of Washington medical school, advises annual chlamydia screenings for younger women.

5. More than 30 types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) are sexually transmitted, and chances are, if you’re a sexually active adult, you’ve contracted several of them without realising. Dr. Handsfield notes that all women should get annual Pap smears to screen for precancerous abnormalities, and women under 26 should also consider getting the HPV vaccination.

6. There’s more to the Pill than pregnancy prevention; it also – depending on the form of medication – can reduce menstrual bleeding and painful periods, clear up acne, treat PMS mood wings and lessen your risk of uterine infection and ovarian cancer.