Swobidu Health

Posts Tagged ‘contraceptives’

June 2010

• there are 62 million U.S. women in their childbearing years (15–44).[1]

• seven in 10 women of reproductive age (43 million women) are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant, but could become pregnant if they and their partners fail to use a contraceptive method.[2]

• The typical U.S. woman wants only two children. To achieve this goal, she must use contraceptives for roughly three decades.[3]

• Virtually all women (more than 99%) aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method.[2]

• Overall, 62% of the 62 million women aged 15–44 are currently using a method.[2]

• Almost one-third (31%) of these 62 million women do not need a method because they are infertile; are pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant; have never had intercourse; or are not sexually active.[2]

• Thus, only 7% of women aged 15–44 are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives.[2]

• Among the 43 million fertile, sexually active women who do not want to become pregnant, 89% are practicing contraception.[2]

• Sixty-three percent of reproductive-age women who practice contraception use nonpermanent methods, including hormonal methods (such as the pill, patch, implant, injectable and vaginal ring), the IUD and condoms. The remaining women rely on female or male sterilization.[2]

• Contraceptive choices vary markedly with age. For women younger than 30, the pill is the leading method.  Among women aged 30 and older, more rely on sterilization.[2]

CONTRACEPTIVE METHOD CHOICE Method use among U.S. women who practice contraception, 2006–08 Method No. of users (in 000s) % of users Pill 10,700 28.0 Tubal sterilization 10,400 27.1 Male condom 6,200 16.1 Vasectomy 3,800 9.9 IUD 2,100 5.5 Withdrawal 2,000 5.2 Three-month injectable (Depo-Provera) 1,200 3.2 Vaginal ring (NuvaRing) 900 2.4 Implant (Implanon or Norplant), one-month injectable (Lunelle) or patch (Evra) 400 1.1 Periodic abstinence (calendar) 300 0.9 Other* 200 0.4 Periodic abstinence (natural family planning) 100 0.2 Diaphragm † † TOTAL 38,214 100.0 *Includes emergency contraception, female condom or vaginal pouch, foam, cervical cap, Today sponge, suppository or insert, jelly or cream (without diaphragm) and other methods.
†Figure does not meet standards of reliability or precision.

• The pill and female sterilization have been the two leading contraceptive methods in the United States since 1982. However, sterilization is the most common method among black and Hispanic women, while white women mostly commonly choose the pill.[2]

• Female sterilization is most commonly relied on by women who are aged 35 or older, women who are currently or have previously been married, women with two or more children, women below 150% of the federal poverty level and women with less than a college education.[2]

• half of all women aged 40–44 who practice contraception have been sterilized, and another 20% have a partner who has had a vasectomy.[2]

• The pill is the method most widely used by women who are in their teens and 20s, women who are cohabiting, women with no children and women with at least a college degree.[2]

• Some 6.2 million women rely on the male condom.[4] Condom use is especially common among teens and women in their 20s, women with one or no children and women with at least a college education.[2]

• Dual methods (most often the condom combined with another method) are used by 13.5% of contraceptive users. The proportions using more than one method are greatest among teenagers and never-married women.[2]

• Teenagers (aged 15–19) who do not use a contraceptive at first sex are twice as likely to become teen mothers as are teenagers who use a method.[2]

• Twenty-three percent of teenage women using contraceptives choose condoms as their primary method. Condom use is higher among women aged 20–24 and is lower among older and married women.[2]

• Of the 2.9 million teenage women who use contraceptives, 54%—more than 1.5 million women—rely on the pill.[2]

• The proportion of women aged 15–44 currently using a contraceptive method increased from 56% in 1982 to 64% in 1995, and then declined slightly to 62% in 2002 and 2006–2008.[2]

• Among all women, 7% were at risk of unwanted pregnancy but not using a method in 2006–2008, an increase from 5% in 1995. [2]

• Among just those women who are sexually active and able to become pregnant but do not want to become pregnant, 11% are not using contraceptives. that number is much higher among teens aged 15–19 (19%) and lower among older women aged 40–44 (8%).[2]

• The proportion of women using contraceptives who rely on condoms decreased between 1995 and 2006–2008 from 20% to 16%. However, use was still higher in 2006–2008 than it was in 1988.[2,4]

• between 1995 and 2002, the share of users relying on the pill increased slightly, from 27% to 31%, but it declined slightly, to 28%, in 2006–2008.[2]

• In 2006–2008, 27% of contraceptive users relied on female sterilization, compared with 23% in 1982.[funded family planning clinic.[2,4]

FIRST YEAR CONTRACEPTIVE FAILURE RATES Method Perfect use Typical use Pill (combined) 0.3 8.7 Tubal sterilization 0.5 0.7 Male condom 2.0 17.4 Vasectomy 0.1 0.2 Three-month injectable 0.3 6.7 Withdrawal 4.0 18.4 IUD (Copper-T) 0.6 1.0 IUD (Mirena) 0.1 0.1 Periodic abstinence – 25.3    Calendar 9.0 –    Ovulation method 3.0 –    Symptothermal 2.0 –    Post-ovulation 1.0 – One-month injectable 0.05 3.0 Implant 0.05 1.0 Patch 0.3 8.0 Diaphragm 6.0 16.0 Sponge    Women who have had a child 20.0 32.0    Women who have never had a child 9.0 16.0 Cervical cap    Women who have had a child 26.0 32.0    Women who have never had a child 9.0 16.0 Female condom 5.0 27.0 Spermicides 18.0 29.0 No method 85.0 85.0 Note: Data for the pill, male condom, three-month injectable, withdrawal and periodic abstinence were updated in 2007. *Most perfect-use rates have been clinically evaluated, but some are based on clinical expertise or “best guesses” (such as some forms of periodic abstinence, withdrawal and no method use). †Typical-use rates for the implant, the diaphragm and spermicides are based on 1991–1995 data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, as calculated by Fu et al. Rates for the three-month injectable, the pill, the male condom, periodic abstinence and withdrawal are based on data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, as calculated by Kost et al. Rates for the IUD, sterilization and the female condom are from Hatcher et al., and are adjusted by the ratio of the corrected and standardized failure rate in the first 12 months for all methods (12.9%) to the uncorrected failure rate for all methods (9.9%), as reported in Fu et al. other typical-use rates are from Hatcher et al. Sources: Perfect use—Hatcher RA et al., eds., Contraceptive Technology, 18th ed., new York: Ardent Media, 2004, Table 9-2. Typical use— Hatcher RA et al., eds., Contraceptive Technology, 18th ed., new York: Ardent Media, 2004; and Fu H et al., Contraceptive failure rates: new estimates from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, Family planning Perspectives, 1999, 31(2):56–63; and Kost K, et al., Estimates of contraceptive failure from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, Contraception, 2007, 77(1):10–21.

• The proportion of all users relying on the IUD has increased substantially, from less than 1% in 1995, to 2% in 2002, to 5.5% in 2006–2008. [2]

• One-quarter of the more than 20 million American women who obtain contraceptive services from a medical provider receive care from a publicly funded family planning clinic.[5]

• In 2008, 7.2 million women, including 1.8 million teenagers, received contraceptive services from publicly funded family planning clinics in the United States.[5]

• Federal employees are guaranteed insurance coverage for contraceptives.[6]

• nine in 10 employer-based insurance plans cover a full range of prescription contraceptives, which is three times the proportion that did so just a decade ago.[7]

• Twenty-seven states now have laws in place requiring insurers that cover prescription drugs in general to provide coverage for the full range of contraceptive drugs and devices approved by the Food and Drug Administration.[8]

Safe sex is great sex, better wear a latex’cause you don’t want that late text,that “I think I’m late” text.

Truer words were never spoken.

As a sexually active 23 year-old, I’ve experienced my fair share of pregnancy scares (ok, only 3), mostly from failed contraceptives. however, as a fairly responsible female, I’ve taken care of it in a cool, calm and collected manner.

As scary as the situation may be, there are plenty of steps you can take to make sure you dont become a gal mama before your time. we cant all be Tsubasa you know!

1)STAY CALM! 

Stay as calm as possible. 99% of the time your guy is going to be just as freaked out that the condom broke as you are. you may be full of semen, but that’s HIS sperm making a mad dash to your uterus. besides, freaking out is just going to make you want to throw up which is no fun.

2) Get to a Pharmacy or planned Parenthood

If you’re 17 and above you can get plan B without a prescription at most pharmacys. I’ve never taken the actual plan B pill, so I can’t tell you an exact cost, but according to Planned Parenthood  it can cost any where from $10-$70. I have however taken a generic morning after pill called Next Choice, which was $36 from Walgreens.

If you’re 17 and under you will need a prescription to obtain the morning after pill. this means a doctors visit which can run you anywhere from $10 if you have insurance, to $250 depending on where you live. it may cost less if you go to a family planning clinic.

3) take your pill(s) ASAP

Most Morning after pills have a 72 hour time frame where they work best. thats three days by the way. so once youve picked up your pill(s) TAKE IT/THEM. I personally give myself an hour from the ‘event’ to get my pill. Plan B one Step  only has one pill to take so thats pretty simple. next Choice has two pills, take the first pill as soon as possible and the second one 12 hours later.

4) Be aware of the side effects

Emergency contraceptive (EC) works by preventing the egg from being (1) released from the ovary (ovulating, (2) fertilized by the sperm (fertilization), or (3) attached to the uterus (implantation).

The side effects that you can expect from emergency contraceptives are the same you would expect from regular birth control:

or menstrual changes (such as spotting or bleeding prior to a period)

Your next period could be heavier or lighter, or earlier or later

5)Once again, STAY CALM

Dont freak out if your period comes a little late. I went a week and a half without a period. this is because the hormones from the EC will more than likely throw your bodys natural cycle off for a little bit. if you go two weeks or longer without a period, you should get a pregnancy test.

Hopefully everybody who is sexually active uses SOME kind of birth control, be it a condom, the pill, or the shot, but accidents happen. But now I hope you’re better prepared in the event that your birth control fails.

But remember Emergency contraceptives are NOT meant to be used as regular birth control, nor will they protect against HIV or STDs, and they wont terminate an existing pregnancy.

Condom myths have been around since the time of their introduction and use. Why some of them persist up to this day might be due to the fact that some are more inclined to believe in hearsays and street talk than reputable sources. The fertile, imaginative minds of teenagers are also receptacles to several misconceptions regarding condom use, especially if they cannot get access to proper sex education and safe sex instructions. Debunking these myths is an important way to break down barriers to a healthy, protected sex life.

One still popular myth that still circulates around is the dubious efficacy of condoms in preventing pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). When stored rightly, put on properly, and used with other applicable contraceptives, condom use is a good birth control and safe sex practice. Condoms only break when they are brittle, expired, or subjected to too much friction without application of appropriate lubricants.

Even when using condoms, others also think that it is not effective against STDs since there are some diseases that are transmitted through direct skin-to-skin contact although it’s true that you can still get STDs from direct skin contact, studies have consistently showed that condom use still reduces disease transmission significantly in all types of STDs. so unless you plan on completely abstaining from sex until you get to hook up with somebody whom you are absolutely sure to be disease-free, condoms are still the next best thing in terms of reducing your chances of getting STDs.

And please don’t think that using two condoms at a time is better than one. The friction created by both latex surfaces can cause it to break, thereby rendering all your protective efforts quite useless. one condom per sexual act is enough. just be sure to use a fresh one for subsequent rounds, and if you both decide to give oral or anal sex a try. just be sure to select appropriate products for each activity, like the Durex Condoms brand offer the Natural Feeling Non-Lubricated variety for oral sex. The brand also carries Colors and Scents varieties, for those seeking to mask the latex smell as well try different colors.

Adventurous individuals might also want to try several condoms with different textures. Durex Condoms offers the Intense Sensation product line with raised dots, the ribbed High Sensation and the her Sensation. these products ensure that both the male and female partner derive maximum pleasure the sex act itself.

When someone says that the HIV virus is small enough to pass through the condom, feel free to negate them. Before putting them out in the market, both the manufacturers and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration periodically tests samples, from the widely popular Durex Condoms and Trojan Condoms brands to imported Okamoto Condoms and Viva Condoms brands, to ensure that they remain intact and impenetrable by any virus.

And for those thinking that condoms are not for them because they are allergic to latex, introduce them to polyurethane ones. popular brands are in the market like the Trojan Supra. Durex Condoms also has the Avanti polyurethane condoms that come in different sizes. aside from being safe to those allergic to latex, they can also be used with any type of lubricants, be it water-based or petroleum-based.

And probably because of the novelty of experience, many teenagers experience the problem of premature ejaculation. From Durex Condoms brand comes the Performax while Trojan Condoms has the Extended Pleasure varieties to answer this concern, with a special type of lubricant capable of sustaining erection for longer period of time.

But probably the loudest complaint you get from men against condom use is that these devices reduces sensitivity and sexual pleasure. This myth probably originated a decade or two ago, when condoms are decidedly thicker than the contemporary ones. Again, the answer to this wrong conviction is to let them try some thinner products that have been proven to impart that bare feeling some are looking for. They should try the Maximum Love and the Extra Sensitive product lines from Durex Condoms. Besides, given the alternative of having to subject themselves to treatments after contacting STDs or to the demands and anxieties associated with accidental pregnancies, all men would rather content themselves with thin condoms.

And how do you deal with the hassle of having to periodically go to pharmacies and convenience stores to purchase them? Why, by simply ordering them in bulk over the internet, of course. Wholesale purchase of condoms from online retailers would not only afford consumers with convenience, but also assures them of privacy.

A Maori former solo mother who recommended free contraceptives for beneficiaries is defending her group’s report against charges of Nazi-style racism.

Sharon Wilson-Davis, a solo mother of three by the age of 21, was a member of the Welfare Working Group which proposed radical changes to the welfare system in a report last month.

former Green MP Sue Bradford said the group seemed to be “looking to Nazi Germany for inspiration, with its underpinning ‘work makes free’ philosophy, attempted eugenic control of a portion of the population, and its potential racist implications for Maori”.

The group recommended work-testing almost all beneficiaries, including sole parents with no children under 3, and applying the work test after 14 weeks for parents who have another child after going on welfare. this was the only point on which the eight-member group disagreed.

The group also proposed “free long-acting reversible contraception” for parents who are receiving welfare”. Pharmac has fully funded a long-lasting hormone implant called Jadelle since August.

Mrs Wilson-Davis, whose Strive Community Trust runs work transition programmes for sole parents in Mangere, said on Tuesday that she supported both proposals to encourage young women to “make wiser choices”.

“Fourteen weeks is the same as paid parental leave. You are going back to work, and if you don’t like it, don’t have another child,” she said.

“What are your choices? We have a contraceptive device that is totally subsidised, so that when you are in better circumstances, if you have work or if you meet a lovely man and he’s willing to support you, fine, have twins, have whatever. but not while you are in this situation.”

She said the group was not racist, even though it found 31 per cent of all working-aged Maori were on welfare compared with 10 per cent of non-Maori.

“The Welfare Working Group is not a pack of Nazis,” she said.

mrs Wilson-Davis, 56, was raised by her grandmother in Otara and left school at 14 because she was embarrassed by not having the correct uniform or money for books.

She married her first boyfriend at 16 because “all I wanted was to have my own place”.

When she was 21 her husband left her and their three children. She transferred to the night shift at a factory to pay the mortgage, and asked cousins to stay so they could feed the baby at 3am.

She said many young women had children because they wanted to be loved.

Welfare made people feel useless, she said, but she had seen huge changes in the women who came on her trust’s course for sole parents.

One she cited was Taina Matthews, 49, a former battered wife who is working for the trust and completing a social work degree.

“I think of one woman who was cowering in a corner when she came in. now she has blossomed.”

IT’S BEEN DONE

The Welfare Working Group appears to be pushing on an open door with a proposal to offer “long-lasted reversible contraception” to all women on benefits.

Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond said Pharmac began fully funding a new long-lasting hormone implant called Jadelle for all women last August. The hormone, contained in a tiny match-sized rod implanted in a woman’s arm, is 99 per cent effective against pregnancy for three to five years. It can be reversed by removing the rod at any time.

The only cost is the fee for having the implant. at Family Planning this is free for women under 22.

Ms Edmond said the number of implants done through Family Planning jumped from 109 in the six months to the end of January last year to 1712 in the past six months.

“Implants are not for everyone,” she said. “Some women suffer side-effects. We would like to talk more about offering subsidised intra-uterine devices and other intra-uterine systems.”

by Simon Collins | Email Simon