According to the article, “IUDs, Implants Best Teen Birth
Control, ACOG Says” 80% of teenage pregnancies are unintended. Studies show that this is due to less
effective methods of birth control such as pills, withdrawal, and condoms. This article, along with another entitled
“Parents Prefer Some, Often Less-Effective, Birth Control Methods for Teens”
give facts and information on statistically more effective “long-acting” forms
of birth control.
According to a study found in the Journal of Adolescent Health (“Parents Prefer Some...”), parents are more likely to favor the
less effective methods such as birth control pills, condoms, injectable
contraceptives, emergency contraception (the morning-after pill), and birth
control patches before considering implants and IUDs. Experts assume that this is due to health
concerns coinciding with minimal knowledge.
To this, Cori Baill, M.D. comments that “parents need to understand that
the risk of pregnancy outweighs the risk of any contraceptive method…”
“IUDs, Implants…” share many statistics on the
differences between the effects of short-acting and long-acting contraceptive
methods. Short-acting methods have a
much high pregnancy rate (22 times higher), and a 12-month continuation rate of
55% compared to 86% for long-acting methods. Also, while younger women have lower continuation
rates for the IUDs, they are still higher than those for short-acting methods.
In the
article “IUDs, Implants…”, the ACOG committee acknowledges other barriers
preventing more frequent use of long-acting methods: lack of familiarity,
misperceptions, high cost, and others.
To this, the committee suggests referrals to public clinics to assist
teenagers with more effective contraceptives.
This article expresses that these methods are the best protection
against unintended pregnancies as well as STIs.
Although
long-acting contraceptive methods have proven more safe and appropriate, ACOG
research shows that only 4.5% of women between the ages of 15-19 choose
them. Also, long-acting methods have
shown to account for less than 5% of use by teens. Statistics and facts having
been found, it must now be distributed to the public so as to promote safer
contraceptive methods.
Obstetrician-gynecologists hope to make them first-line recommendations
for all sexual active women.
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