Shopping for birth control can feel a lot like bra shopping — you have to choose the right fit, amount of padding, support, color, style — the options can overwhelm you. Of course, once you find the perfect fit, you swear by it and end up with multiples of the same bra. A similar phenomenon occurs with birth control — like the episode of “Seinfeld” where Elaine buys all the “Today Sponges” she can get her hands on after finding out they will no longer be made because she swears by them as birth control. Most women agree with that sentiment and are often reluctant to change the method they use.
There are methods of birth control we’re all fairly familiar with, such as condoms and the Pill. Condoms are easily available over the counter, are fairly inexpensive and are accessible to all. When used properly, they are considered 98-percent effective and, compared to non-barrier methods of contraception, have the added benefit of helping to protect against sexually transmitted infections. Condoms are often considered inconvenient, though, because they require partners to interrupt their activities. Also, many people do not use condoms correctly, which diminishes their effectiveness at preventing pregnancy to about 85 percent. And condoms do have the possibility of tearing, especially if they are expired. Remember when using condoms that you should only use one — so-called “double bagging” actually increases the risk that condoms will tear.
Historically, there was only one method of oral contraception, which became known as the Pill, but today, there are several options. The different options vary by the amount of hormones, length of menstruation, number of periods per year and whether the dose varies each week. We’ve all seen commercials for Yaz and Seasonale, two newer options that shorten menstrual cycles and decrease the number of periods per year, respectively. Choosing a birth control pill depends on your personal preferences and what you and your health care provider decide is the best option for you. When used correctly, pills can be more than 99-percent effective in preventing pregnancy, but they do not protect against STIs.
In addition to these two methods of contraception, there are many others, including things like the ring (NuvaRing), implantable method (Implanon), the Shot (Depo-Provera), the Patch (Ortho Evra), intrauterine devices and emergency contraception.
The ring is a flexible plastic ring that a woman inserts in her vagina around her cervix and leaves in place for three weeks. The ring is removed for one week, similar to the week of inactive pills in oral contraceptives. The ring works by releasing the hormones estrogen and progestin to prevent ovulation and because it releases hormones similar to the Pill, it is similarly as effective. Because the ring has to be inserted and removed from the vagina by hand, many people feel uncomfortable with it. Because it is inserted for three weeks at a time though, many enjoy the freedom of not having to remember to take a daily pill. In my opinion, this option is not for the faint of heart and definitely works best for women who are extremely comfortable with themselves.
Implanon is a small, match-stick size rod inserted underneath the skin of the upper arm for up to three years. It works by releasing the hormone progestin to prevent ovulation. This option is great for women who are looking for more long-term methods of contraception and aren’t planning to become pregnant for at least three years, although it can be removed if a woman changes her mind. Similar to other methods, it’s about 99-percent effective when used correctly. While convenient, it’s not yet widely available.
Depo-Provera shots are given every 12 weeks to prevent pregnancy by releasing the hormone progestin to prevent ovulation and is more than 99-percent effective. It is also convenient for women who do not want to remember to take a daily pill and is helpful at reducing the frequency and heaviness of periods to the point that some women do not have periods after one year of use. The disadvantage is that injections cost between $30 and $75 each and are often not covered by insurance policies. It’s also not a good option for people who are terrified of getting shots.
The Patch is a small beige patch, similar in size to Nicotine patches. It is placed on the skin of the butt, upper arm or lower abdomen for one week at a time for up to three consecutive weeks, followed by an off-week to allow for menstruation. When used correctly, it is more than 99-percent effective. It has the advantage of not being a daily medication and being very inconspicuous, but it is slightly more expensive than pills. About three years ago, however, the patch was discovered to have a 60-percent higher dose of estrogen than birth control pills and it increases the risk of developing life-threatening blood clots. If the patch is an option you are considering, it is very important to discuss these risks with your doctor.
An IUD is a small T-shaped device inserted into the uterus by your doctor. They primarily work by interfering with the movement of sperm and preventing them from joining with an egg. There are two main varieties — one is made of copper and lasts for up to 12 years, and the other releases the hormone progestin and lasts for five years. Many consider IUDs to be one of the most effective methods of birth control because they are 99-percent effective and do not introduce any variability in effectiveness based on how correctly you use them. It’s also a one-time expenditure for more than 5 years of contraception, depending on which specific device you choose. A major risk of IUDs is that they can essentially “trap” bacteria, such as chlamydia and gonorrhea and increase the risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease, so they are not encouraged for use in people who have multiple sexual partners and who are not using barrier contraception in addition to the IUD to prevent STIs.
And, when all else fails, there’s always “Plan B” or emergency contraception. The morning-after pill is a super-dose of the same hormones in birth control pills. It can be started up to five days after intercourse, although most recommend that it is started within 72 hours for maximum effectiveness. Some mistakenly think that Plan B is an abortion pill, but it is not; it works by thickening cervical mucus to prevent sperm from entering the uterus and joining with the egg and also by lessening the likelihood that an egg will implant in the uterine wall. It should not be used as a primary method of birth control under any circumstances, but accidents happen and it is a very effective backup method if you’re worried that your primary method may have failed.
Remember that there are even more options out there than these; if considering the use of birth control, you should discuss various options with your physician to determine which method is the best for you.
Katie is a University Medical student. She can be reached at k.mcbeth@cavalierdaily.com.
You know? If birth control wasn’t so embarrassing, I don’t think we’d see so much unprotected sex! Who here likes to buy ‘regular size’ when the magnums are staring us in the face?
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A nice article but there was no mention of cervical barriers; diaphragms, cervical caps (FemCap) and the Today sponge, which is now back in production.
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Of all the articles that Katie McBeth has written promoting steroid use, chemical abortion, and very carefully avoiding any mention of the serious threats to women’s health therefrom – this one is perhaps her most shocking. There was a comment in this thread last year posted by a female UVA student that simply stated that “if it is a fertilized egg, it is an abortion.” This simple and straightforward sentence pointing out the medical facts has been deleted by the Cavalier Daily.
Note also the letter to the editor that followed this article:
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2008/10/31/letter-abortion-facts/
Unlike mine from March, 2008, this letter has not been removed from the Cavalier Daily’s online search archive by someone inside the organization.
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If what you are looking for is breast cancer, cervical cancer, heart disease, liver cancer, birth defects, or an abortion – Katie McBeth is the premier spokesperson in this paper for all of the above.
She’s been challenged several times to admit even once to the medical facts that she deliberately hides on behalf of the abortion industry she is such a consistent supporter of. She just cannot bring herself to do it. As a member of the University of Virginia Health System, she would probably face disciplinary action is she dared give people complete and accurate information regarding these drugs.
Her last article was actually about heart disease. Nevermind that over 60% of female students at UVA take the steroids she promotes every day cause plaque and heart disease… Her latest solution? Get some junk in your trunk and reduce your risks by having a big butt instead.
There was a time in America when medical professionals guarded their medical ethics like it was the most important thing in their profession. For so many now, that is a distant memory as they bathe themselves in the politics and profits that the abortions and pharmaceutical industries afford them. Meanwhile, we have become the world’s leader in breast cancer incidence, and preterm birth and cerebral palsy have increased during the last half century of rapid technological advancement in medicine.
http://uvalies.org/
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This is just one of many medications that are taken regularly that have side effects that aren’t publicised.
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Checked out your site. Interesting. I’m guessing other universities promote the same drugs.
I would tone down the site a bit. Having an SS officer on the front page as well as anti-abortion cartoons may take away from your overall message.
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Earnan,
Have you ever sat back and asked yourself why it is that we live in a country where men are forced to go on national TV and apologize for steroid use – but we all turn a blind eye to getting our girls on them at age 12? Does the fact that breast cancer used to affect one in 25 women and now affects one in 8 bother you? If not, does the fact that the Mayo Clinic says that these steroids that UVA hands out like candy and Katie McBeth markets via misinformation give college aged women a 40% better chance of getting the disease bother you? A tiny % of women need these steroids medicinally just like an asthma patient needs steroids. But they are the very few amidst the total.
Have you ever witnessed a woman die a slow, painful death from breast cancer?
When you do, like I have, will you perhaps think of these things differently?
It’s amazing the transformation of people AFTER they are diagnosed and are facing the grim reaper every day:
http://breastcancer.about.com/b/2010/01/08/abortion-birth-control-pills.htm
If nobody stands up to the pharmaceutical/abortion industries in this country and fights, then this all continues to happen every day. And UVA at present is a major player in both raking in profits. As a publicly funded institution, UVA aborted two infants last week. They’ll abort two more this week. In April and May, they will experience their usual post spring break rush. Those former mothers will have a far greater chance of giving birth to a premature child in the future who needlessly lives a life with birth defects – the most common of which is cerebral palsy. Good business for the people selling wheelchairs, yes. Katie McBeth will not tell you of any of this. She won’t dare mess with the powers that be in the hospital who have given up on medical ethics. She will be rewarded for her loyalty, most likely.
Science is science. And politics is politics. The media in this country is far too bought off to cover these things, so we have to be rather rude in getting people informed. So be it. Rosa Parks could have just toned it down a bit, and wrote a polite letter to the editor instead of refusing to give up her seat on the bus.
Myself and another member of my group were guided up into the hospital right where they do the killings last week. Our guide was a very high ranking employee at the hospital. Yeah, we took a lot of pictures. Stay tuned. =o) There are still people in the hospital who have a conscience and believe in silly things like the UDHR, Geneva, and the Nuremberg Protocol. There is no shortage of them, in fact.
You can say what you like about our website. We are sprucing it up soon, but you learned a few things you didn’t know about before. We are naming every Peer Health Educator thereon soon. And I can tell you that we’ve already saved at least two lives, and had over 18,000 visitors. We had nearly 200 visitors from a medical ethics class in Moscow the last few weeks. Another 150 from Saskatoon. UVA is becoming famous!
Mengele is the father of the modern abortion movement in the western world. He was a pioneer and ardent follower of the modern world’s first abortionist leader. You may have heard of him:
“it will be necessary to open special institutions for abortions and doctors must be able to help out there in case there is any question of this being a breach of their professional ethics.” Adolf Hitler.
Mengele’s not going anywhere, Earnan. The shoe fits, and Cinderella McBeth is wearing it. And there isn’t anything about success that had discouraged any of us so far. Don’t expect us to tone down anything and take our seats on the back of the bus anytime soon.
Human Rights and women & children’s health are cool.
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To be clear, I support what you are doing here. I just think some of the cartoons and nazi imagery you use may take away from your ultimate goal of informing young women of the dangers involved.
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Earnan,
Human Rights movements that butt up against a very well entrenched, media supported, and fantastically rich enemy have nothing to appeal to other than common sense, real science, and people’s consciences. The powers that be can simply ignore the powerless and continue to profit from destroying people. Think back to the civil rights movement in the early 60′s, or perhaps how the tobacco companies were eventually forced before congress and made to admit what they had known all along.
These institutions have to be confronted, and confronted rudely. In this case, the modern abortion movement in the western world began with Margaret Sanger and the eugenics movement. this movement was VERY popular at UVA in the 1920′s and 30′s – as was slavery before it. Now UVA has once more left ethics and the welfare of those it considers undesirables to rot while they profit from their destruction. This is a tradition at UVA, not something new. John Casteen brought this to UVA 20 years ago. Thousands have been aborted right inside the hospital since. Countless cases of birth defects, breast cancer, and other maladies have been provided to uninformed women. Do you really think that such a regime will budge by a few letters to the editor? Indeed, the Cav Daily has done backflips in the past not to print any such information.
Elective abortion came from the eugenics movement, and was first instituted on a major scale in nazi Germany and it’s occupied territories. Eugenics itself was as popular in the third reich as it was at UVA. This is the factual history of where this all came from. People very much want to pretend it’s not there. Some of our imagery and cartoons are there precisely to shock people into perhaps asking themselves why they support such things that came from such people and places. The history of eugenics, planned parenthood, and the promotion of female steroids is irrevocably intertwined.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLnNi_qb7nY
Respectfully (to you), we have no plans on being polite to those that profit from others’ destruction by ignoring these facts or the very real history of how their industry came to be.
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