ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To study the psychic self-representations and experiences of menstrual blood in women and their impact on the choice of a contraceptive method, with or without amenorrhea. METHODS: Qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with French women over age 18, under contraception. RESULTS: Twenty-three interviews were conducted with women of various ages and socio-economic classes. Three themes have been studied: the menarche experience, the representation and experience of menstrual blood, and the representation and experience of amenorrhea induced by contraception. Menarche has been a negative experience for most of them, and menarche is known to influence menstrual self-representation. About menstrual bleeding, two profiles of women could be described. Those with a positive self-representation of menstrual blood considered it necessary for the purification of their bodies as well as for procreation and were reluctant to the idea of amenorrhea induced by their contraception. Those with a negative representation of menstrual blood considered it as a source of physical and mental suffering and accepted the idea of having amenorrhea induced by their contraception, amenorrhea being considered as a treatment or a release. CONCLUSION: The choice of a contraception with or without a induced-amenorrhea seems to be specific to every woman and depends on there self-psychic representation of menstrual blood, independently from their socio-economic class. The results of this study highlighted the effect of women's psychic representations and experience of menstrual blood on their contraceptive choice.
