Queen’s Student Wellness promotes its reproductive health services

Queen’s University Student Wellness Services (SWS) showed their support for all student’s pregnancy decisions with a post on their @queensuniversitybewell Instagram page last month.

The post was headlined “I think I’m pregnant, what should I do?” said the Queen’s SWS clinic is “judgement free” and outlined the pathways available to students wishing to terminate or continue their pregnancy.

“We have found that birth control and family planning are two common reasons why students seek supports from SWS,” Cynthia Gibney, executive director of SWS, said in a statement to The Journal. 

The SWS website does not name any pregnancy options on their list of provided medical services. The list of sexual health services includes access to birth control methods and access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for students concerned with potential exposure to HIV. Additionally, SWS offers testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

“In the past five years, a total of approximately 10,000 medical appointments have been made to provide services related to sexual and reproductive health—this represents about 12-15 per cent of all medical appointments in a typical year,” Gibney said.

In the case of pregnancy, SWS provides students with accurate information to assist their reproductive decisions. In the case of termination, SWS can refer students to local abortion services at Lakeside Clinic at KHSC. For students continuing their pregnancy, SWS offers both prenatal and postnatal care.

“Student Wellness Services (SWS) is here to support students with any physical or mental health concerns,” Gibney added, “including those related to sexual and reproductive health.”