This qualitative study (described in two separate journal articles) sought to explore the reasons why some young women are dissatisfied with and request ‘early’ removal of the contraceptive implant. All women who met the inclusion criteria (16–23 years old and wanting an implant removal within 1 year of insertion) were invited to participate. Twenty young women were recruited from four sexual health clinics in London, UK. They were interviewed 2 weeks post-implant removal. Nine sexual health practitioners were also interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted face to face, excepting three which were by telephone. Analysis was undertaken independently by the authors using NVivo software to manage thematic analysis. A coding framework was developed jointly by the authors, transcripts were independently coded and any differences reconciled through review and …