Ngongoni, Shamiso: Teens and Contraception

Milly Dawson in her article suggests that parents play a role in what contraceptive method their child will use. Parents who respect their child’s autonomy will be comfortable with their child getting contraceptives from a doctor. Dawson is encouraging the use of long acting contraceptives such as the contraceptive implants and intrauterine devices. She writes that ‘’effective methods are still under used’’ by teenagers. She provides statistics on which contraceptive methods parents were most comfortable with. In a survey, the birth control pills and condoms, which she believes are not effective, had the most acceptance by parents whereas implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs) where least accepted.

She assumed that parents may not approve the use of ‘longer acting’ methods because they do not recognize ‘their teens autonomy.’ Parents might associate long acting methods with ongoing sexual relationships.  The other reason maybe that parents remember the Dalkon shield, an IUD which had considerable safety problems. She concludes, however, that the risk of pregnancy outweighs that of any contraceptive method.

The second article is in full support of the use of contraceptive implants and intrauterine devices. They quote the ACOG committee on adolescent health, who wrote, ‘’these contraceptive methods have the highest rates of satisfaction and continuation.’’

The authors write that although adolescents use contraception, they do not use the most effective types. The high numbers of teenage pregnancies show that teens are not using contraception, use contraception inconsistently, and some fail to use the contraceptive correctly. Evidence also shows that women who use long acting methods of contraception are more likely to continue using it for a year vs. those who use short term contraception. The rate of unintended pregnancies is also less in women who use long term contraceptives. 

The article suggests that adolescents should have easier access to long acting contraceptives. It also explains that people may not be using long acting contraceptives because of misperceptions, high cost, a lack of access and health care’s provider concerns about safety. A study showed that without these barriers, most women would choose long acting reversible contraceptives.

The writer suggests however; that these non barrier methods should be used along with condoms to reduce risk of sexually transmitted infections. They also suggest that teenagers should be referred to public clinics. This will reduce cost and they will receive information, recommendations, suggestions and counseling regarding use of long-acting reversible contraceptives.