Sexual Health

Lets Talk About Sex

Sex is a normal and important part of our lives, but it is important to stay safe.

Only have sex with people when you really want to and never feel forced into having any kind of sexual contact.

It’s ok to say no.

If you have sex with lots of different partners, it’s a good idea to have a sexual health check-up regularly as some infections like Chlamydia often don’t have any symptoms.

If you are attending university or college away from your home town please ensure you are registered with a GP local to your place of education.  However, please note that if you are registered with a GP near your place of education you will be taken off your GP list in your home town.  It is important you plan appointments for your on-going basic contraception (pills, patches, rings) and take into account holiday periods, to make sure you don’t run out.

Healthy Relationships

All relationships will have their highs and lows but a good relationship will be based on respect for each other and open communication. This is the same whether it is a sexual relationship or with your friends and parents. A relationship should be a positive experience in general, for most of the time, (we all have good and bad days!). A healthy relationship is important for general health and wellbeing. You should enjoy spending time together but also allow each other freedom to see your friends without being made to feel guilty. It’s nice to have common interests in a relationship but if you don’t then your partner shouldn’t stop you doing something you enjoy just because they don’t.

Your partner should respect your privacy and this comes with the trust you build in your relationship.

Signs of an unhealthy relationship can be:

• Your partner insists on reading your text messages or looking at your social media
• Your partner shops you seeing your friends or makes you feel guilty if you don’t spend time with them when they want you to.
• You feel pressure to have sex with a partner even when you do not want to but you don’t feel like you can say no.
• A partner tells you what to wear.

Finding ‘THE ONE’ can be difficult and you may experience a number of relationships before you find someone you are truly compatible with. Some people are not looking for a relationship and want to concentrate on themselves (exams, friendships, work etc.) this is ‘OK’. Making yourself happy first will lead on to healthy relationships in the future if you want one.

Young person's clinics

The Northamptonshire Sexual Health Outreach Service offers advice and support to young people for all of their sexual health needs including testing for sexually transmitted infections, advice on pregnancy and contraception and access to condoms and complex contraception needs.

C-Card service for under 25’s Drop-ins offer:

• safer sex/basic contraception info & advice
• chlamydia testing
• pregnancy testing
• condoms

Free Condoms

You can get free condoms from any of our clinics. Our outreach teams also give out free condoms when they visit schools, colleges and other places around the county. If you are under 25 you can access free condoms via the c-card scheme in participating locations.

C-Card is offered across several community services, including colleges, youth clubs, schools and pharmacies.

Call Hotline 0845 6023511 for your nearest C-card Service.

Clinics for people under 19 years are available in:

• Northampton - Wednesdays 3pm to 5pm
• Kettering - Thursdays 3.30pm to 5.30pm

These are walk in services and you do not need to book, but if lots of people turn up you may be asked to rebook. You can also attend our clinics by booking an appointment at any time in the week.

Early Hormonal Contraception (EHC)or commonly known as ‘morning after pill’. Free EHC for under 25’s can be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sexual intercourse and is available from a number of services including some pharmacies, the sexual health clinics and A&E. 

If it is longer than that please call for advice at your nearest sexual health clinic,  www.nhft.nhs.uk/sexual-health as other options may be available.

EHC Pharmacy suppliers are listed below, but please note this list is currently being updated, so probably better to call a clinic first.

Free STI self-testing kit

Don't have symptoms but are worried you might be at risk of an STI? You could be eligible to get a home STI testing kit delivered to you by post.

Free HIV self-testing kit
Do you live in Northamptonshire and worried you might be at risk of HIV? You could be eligible to get a free HIV self-testing kit delivered to your home by post.

Call the national Sexual Health Helpline free on 0300 123 7123between 9am and 8pm, Monday to Friday. Your call will be treated with sensitivity and in strict confidence.

Keeping Safe

Our ‘gut feelings’ are often a good guide to if something ‘feels right’. , If something doesn’t feel right then it’s more than likely that it isn’t, if you don’t feel safe in a situation then take yourself away from it as soon as possible. Basic common sense safety tips can help keep us safe. Things like not walking alone at night or letting people know what time your bus is due to arrive so they know what time to expect you.

There are lots of apps you can get on your phone that help you to keep safe, one such app is ‘Hollie Guard’. This is a personal safety app which allows you to tell people where you are and if you don’t arrive at your destination when you thought you would. It also has a built in safety alarm and deterrent alarm. 

Keeping safe applies to watching out for your friends too. If you see something that looks unusual or not right e.g. if your friend starts to behave differently, tell someone (parent, teacher) about it.

Consent

Consent in relation to sex is when we agree to have sex with someone and we want to do this.  This video explains it clearly. There should be no confusion. 

Video:

If you have been sexually assaulted please contact Serenity Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) directly on 01604 601713 or you can contact the Integrated Sexual Health Service for further advice. You may wish to report the assault to the police who will work closely with our services.

Local Links

www.nhft.nhs.uk/sexual-health

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