Is Long Term Birth Control More Effective? - Healthy You Now

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This arti?cle orig?i?nally appeared on Yahoo.com

Women who choose birth con?trol pills, the patch or vagi?nal ring are 20 times more likely to have an unplanned preg?nancy than those using long-term meth?ods such as IUDs and implants, a study?found.

Among young women under 21 who chose the pill, the patch or vagi?nal ring, the risk of unin?tended preg?nancy is almost twice as high as that for older women, accord?ing to researchers at the Wash?ing?ton Uni?ver?sity School of Med?i?cine in St.?Louis.

The study, car?ried out on 7,500 par?tic?i?pants between the ages of 14 and 45, appears in the May 24 New Eng?land Jour?nal of Medicine.

?This study is the best evi?dence we have that long-acting reversible meth?ods are far supe?rior to the birth con?trol pill, patch and ring,? says senior author and OBGYN Jef?frey Peipert.

Intrauter?ine devices ?and implants are more effec?tive because women can for?get about them after clin?i?cians put the devices in?place.?

Unplanned preg?nan?cies remain a major health prob?lem in the United States. About three mil?lion preg?nan?cies per year ? half of all preg?nan?cies ? are unplanned, very high for a devel?oped nation.

?We know that IUDs and implants have very low fail?ure rates of less than one per?cent,? said lead author Brooke Win?ner. ?But although IUDs are very effec?tive and have been proven safe in women and ado?les?cents, they only are cho?sen by 5.5 per?cent of women in the United States who use contraception.?

IUDs are inserted by a nurse or doc?tor, but few women can eas?ily afford them as the cost can reach around $500.

How?ever ?when IUDs and implants are pro?vided at no cost, about 75 per?cent of women chose these meth?ods for birth con?trol,? Win?ner?added.

That means that greater use of longer act?ing con?tra?cep?tive meth?ods by teens and young women could pre?vent sub?stan?tially more unplanned pregnancies.

IUDs are inserted by a nurse or doc?tor, but few women can eas?ily afford them as the cost can reach around $500.

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How?ever ?when IUDs and implants are pro?vided at no cost, about 75 per?cent of women chose these meth?ods for birth con?trol,? Win?ner?added.

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That means that greater use of longer act?ing con?tra?cep?tive meth?ods by teens and young women could pre?vent sub?stan?tially more unplanned pregnancies.

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