Sexual health and
different kinds of contraception are a constant source of discussion among
adolescents, other family members, and experienced doctors in the field. The two articles both discuss short-term and
long-term contraceptive methods and how long-term contraceptive methods are
much more effective than short-term methods.
The first talks about
how sexually active teens do not use contraception to block the transmission of
STDs and how effective uses of contraception are still underused. Later it reports on a survey of parents of
daughters aged 12 to 17 and which method of contraception their daughter was
using. The majority of parents said they
would rather have their daughter use short-term contraceptive methods, such as
the pill and condoms, rather than long-term methods such as implants and IUDs. Furthermore, parents may not be keen on the
idea of their daughter using long-term methods as this may lead to a continuous
sexual relationship whereas short-term methods can be used easily when the
chance of a sexual interaction occurs. Parents
were also wary of IUDs after the Dalkon Shield problem where the IUD was
marketed aggressively even though it had safety problems.
The second article talks
about how contraceptive implants and intrauterine devices provide the best
protection from unwanted pregnancies and that the majority of adolescents still
use short-acting methods of contraception when engaging in sexual
intercourse. Discussion about the
effectiveness of long-term contraception follows this and its protection rate
of less than 1% per year. It states that
80% of teen pregnancies are unplanned and this is reflective of the use of
failure-prone contraceptive methods. Then
it recommends that healthcare providers should advise sexually active teens to
use contraception to decrease the risk of transmission of STDs. It ends by listing the reasons why
adolescents aren’t using long-term contraception methods. Those are lack of familiarity, expense and
lack of access. The author suggested
approaching a public clinic in order to expand access to these methods. The clinic would also provide additional
information on the methods and could answer any questions adolescents had about
such methods.
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