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Study Says This Could Be One Way To Prevent Unintended Pregnancies

One Way To Prevent Unintended Pregnancies
LiveScience
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By: Agata Blaszczak Boxe, LiveScience Contributing Writer
Published: 06/17/2015 04:39 PM EDT on LiveScience

Young women who talk with a doctor about long-term contraception may have fewer unintended pregnancies, a new study suggests.

Research has shown that intrauterine devices (IUDs) and progestin implants — which can prevent pregnancy for years after they are inserted — are more effective at preventing pregnancy than other, more widely used methods such as condoms or birth control pills. However, health providers tend to be less familiar with longer-term contraception, and do not routinely mention it when talking with patients, the researchers said.

Considering that about 50 percent of pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended, the researchers wanted to see whether training health providers on how to educate young women about IUDs and implants would affect the number of unintended pregnancies.

"There has been heavy reliance in the United States on the pill and condoms for young people," study author Cynthia Harper, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a statement. But "it's easy for people to forget to use these methods, which can lead to accidental pregnancies."

In the study, the researchers looked at 40 Planned Parenthood health centers across the U.S. They randomly chose half of the centers to receive staff training on providing counseling for women and inserting IUDs and implants, while the other half of the staffs continued to provide contraceptive care in the same manner as before. [Birth Control Quiz: Test Your Contraception Knowledge]

In the clinics where the training program was implemented, 71 percent of the providers who received the training later reported that they talked about IUDs and implants with patients, compared with 39 percent of the providers in the comparison group. In the clinics that received the training, 28 percent of women ages 18 to 25 chose IUDs or implants during their visit, compared with 17 percent of women in the other group.

Moreover, the researchers found that at the clinics where the training was done, the rate of unintended pregnancies over the course of a year was 8 per 100 women seen at the clinic, compared with 15 unintended pregnancies per 100 women in the comparison group.

However, there was no effect of the training on pregnancy rates among the women who were seeking birth control counseling after an abortion, the researchers noted. The researchers said these women may have been discouraged by the cost of the long-term contraception devices.

Previous surveys have shown that 38 percent of physicians in the U.S. who talk with their patients about contraceptives offer IUDs to adolescents. About half (53 percent) offer IUDs to women who have not given birth, and 25 percent offer them right after a woman has had an abortion, even though the devices are safe to use after an abortion, the researchers said.

As for the effectiveness of IUDs and implants compared with other methods, research has shown that less than 1 percent of women who use an IUD or an implant get pregnant over the course of a year, while about 9 percent of women on the pill and 18 percent of women whose male partners use condoms will get pregnant.

There are certain benefits and side effects of using IUDs and implants, the researchers said. For example, women who smoke or have certain health conditions are advised against taking estrogen-containing combined contraceptive pills because of an increased risk of blood clots and stroke, and so for these women, IUDs and implants are better alternatives because the devices do not contain estrogen. Both IUDs and implants only contain progestin, whereas the copper IUD does not contain any hormones, Harper said.

The side effects of using both IUDs and implants may involve irregular menstrual bleeding, and in the case of the copper IUD, heavier menstrual bleeding, Harper told Live Science.

The new study was published today (June 16) in the journal The Lancet.

Follow Agata Blaszczak-Boxe on Twitter. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on Live Science.

Copyright 2015 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Before You Go

10 Must-Know Birth Control Facts
You Can Get It For Free(01 of10)
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One of the most buzzed about parts of the Affordable Care Act is the so-called contraceptive mandate, which requires that most private health insurance plans cover birth control without a co-pay or deductible. In other words, for free.There are exceptions. Certain plans have been grandfathered in, or given more time before they have to adhere to the change. Religious employers are also exempt. And while the mandate requires that the full range of FDA-approved prescription contraceptives be covered, it does not require that all brands be covered, so you might have to switch to a generic drug in order to get your contraception for free. Planned Parenthood recommends calling the member services number on the back of your insurance card to talk about what is covered by your plan. (credit:Getty)
Inconsistency Is A Big Problem(02 of10)
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The two-thirds of women who use contraception consistently and correctly account for just 5 percent of unintended pregnancies, the Guttmacher Institute reports. On the other hand, the 19 percent of women who use birth control inconsistently account for a whopping 43 percent of all unintended pregnancies. Take the birth control pill, for example. Every year, fewer than 1 in 100 women will become pregnant if they take the pill every day, but 9 in 100 will if they don't manage to take the pill daily. Women often absorb the message that the pill is practically 100 percent effective. That's only the case if they take it precisely as directed, day-in and out. (credit:Getty)
You May Have To Monitor Side Effects(03 of10)
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All brands of the pill are equally effective at preventing pregnancy, but that doesn't mean they're all equally well-suited to you and your body. And for a lot of women, the onus is on them to figure out what is best."Gynecologists will prescribe the pill they have the most experience with or the one they currently have free samples of in the closet," Dr. James Simon of the Women's Health Research Center in Laurel, M.D., told Women's Health. Know the basics about what your options are. There are combination pills -- which contain both the hormone estrogen and the hormone progestin -- and progestin-only options, for women who can't take estrogen. Within those categories, there are different strengths and brands, and beyond that, there are plenty of modern, long-range options that aren't pills, like the IUD or the ring.If you're having side effects that you think might be related to your birth control, try tracking them in your calendar and taking that information with you to your next appointment with your gynecologist. It'll help your doctor or nurse get a sense of what you're experiencing and guide them toward better options for you. Some side effects may go away after your body adjusts, others may not. But you shouldn't have to settle for discomfort. (credit:Getty)
IUDs Are Most Effective(04 of10)
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A study published last spring in the venerable New England Journal of Medicine found that intrauterine devices, or IUDs, are 20 times better at preventing unintended pregnancies than the birth control pill, patch or ring. Why? Because IUDs -- which are small t-shaped devices inserted into a woman's uterus -- eliminate human error. (For more on that, check out the previous slide.) They're currently the most effective long-acting, reversible option available -- and they are safe, despite lingering belief that they aren't. (credit:Getty)
Odds Are, The Pill Didn't Cause Your Weight Gain(05 of10)
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Early versions of the birth control pill had higher doses of hormones and caused many women to gain weight, but most modern iterations do not. Numerous studies have found no link between combination pills and subsequent weight gain, although the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists points out that progestin-only pills can cause women to put on some pounds.As Time reports, there are two reasons why the birth-control-pill-weight-gain-connection endures: Girls often go on the pill when they are teenagers and may gain weight simply because they're growing up, but think it's because of the pill. Many women also go on the pill when they're in a committed relationship, and research suggests that coupled women tend to gain weight. However, as ABC reports, women can experience bloating or stomach distention when they switch or go on or off their birth control, so absolutely speak up if that's something you're experiencing. (credit:Getty)
Other Meds Matter(06 of10)
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There's a reason your doctor asks what other medications you're on before writing a prescription: Some drugs don't mix with others. And that absolutely holds true for your hormonal birth control. The list of do-not-combine-with-birth-control drugs includes, but is by no means limited to, certain antibiotics, anti-fungal medications, antidepressants and even some natural supplements, like St. John's wort, which can diminish the efficacy of birth control pills with estrogen. (credit:Shutterstock)
You Can Use Birth Control Indefinitely(07 of10)
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As the Mayo Clinic says, healthy women who don't smoke can generally safely remain on birth control pills for as long as they'd like -- through menopause even. "Years ago it was thought that prolonged use of birth control pills would interfere with a woman's subsequent ability to conceive, but this has been shown to be false," Dr. Mary M. Gallenberg, a Mayo Clinic OBGYN explains. "Similarly, doctors used to recommend taking an occasional break from birth control pills, but this offers no benefits and may increase your risk of an unplanned pregnancy." Of course, there are permanent birth control options, like sterilization, that women and their partners can also consider if they're not having children or are done having kids. (credit:Getty)
Stopping? You Can Get Pregnant Right Away(08 of10)
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"In the past, doctors had concerns that if you conceived immediately after stopping the pill, you had a higher risk of miscarriage. However, these concerns have proved to be largely unfounded. The hormones in birth control pills don't linger in your system," according to the Mayo Clinic. "Women don’t need to get off the pill three to six months before they’re trying to conceive, their bodies return to normal right away," Dr. Katharine O’Connell White, an OBGYN with Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., told Time. The same holds true for the IUD: ACOG says women can try to get pregnant as soon as it is removed.That said, some women may experience a gap between when they stop using contraception and when they begin ovulating. If you don't get your period within several months, you may have something referred to "post-pill amenorrhea." Talk to your health care provider. (credit:Getty)
You Can Get Protection 5 Days After Unprotected Sex(09 of10)
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There has been a lot of confusion about what emergency contraception is and is not. Drugs like Plan B offer a means for women to prevent pregnancy up to five days after a woman has unprotected sex (although with Plan B effectiveness decreases the longer women wait; ella, another brand, which is available by prescription only, remains equally effective within that five day window). They are not the abortion pill. Another option is to have an IUD inserted within five days of unprotected sex. The point is, even if you have unprotected sex, there are safe methods that can help prevent pregnancy if that's what you want. (credit:Getty)
Male Birth Control Is On the Horizon(10 of10)
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Though researchers are loathe to put a date on when we can expect it, they say that both hormonal and non-hormonal birth control options for men are on the way, with research efforts supported by high-profile groups such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Case in point, last summer scientists discovered a molecule that dramatically lowered sperm counts in mice and that could, one day, be used in humans. (credit:Getty)
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