Birth Control News and Research

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Study reveals gaps in contraception access despite 12-month supply policies

Oregon Health & Science University researchers have found that despite legislation in 19 states requiring insurers to cover a 12-month supply of contraception, patients aren't receiving a year's worth of their prescription; most receive just three months or less.

19 Sep 2024

Study reveals high failure rate for tubal sterilization as birth control

Tubal sterilization is thought to be a permanent form of birth control and is the most common method of contraception nationally.

27 Aug 2024

Breakthrough malaria vaccine offers long-term protection for pregnant women

In a report published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases (Safety and efficacy of PfSPZ Vaccine against malaria in healthy adults and women anticipating pregnancy in Mali: two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 1 and 2 trials) a team led by investigators at the Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC), Bamako, Mali; the Laboratory of Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology (LMIV), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health; and Sanaria Inc. describes the durable protective efficacy against malaria shown by Sanaria® PfSPZ Vaccine when administered to women prior to pregnancy.

14 Aug 2024

If lawsuit ends federal mandates on birth control coverage, states will have the say

David Engler had been pretty sure he didn't want children. Then a frustrating school day two years ago helped seal the deal for the now 43-year-old substitute teacher.

9 Jul 2024

Planned parenthood to blitz GOP seats, betting abortion fears can sway voters

Planned Parenthood is preparing a seven-figure campaign blitz to oust GOP incumbents from California congressional seats, part of a larger national effort by the reproductive rights group to prevent a Republican majority from passing abortion restrictions, including a national ban.

8 Jul 2024

Excessive pregnancy weight gain linked to prolonged labor, Japanese study reveals

Researchers found that excessive weight gain during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of prolonged labor in Japanese women, emphasizing the importance of monitoring weight gain to prevent complications.

8 Jul 2024

Beyond PMS: A poorly understood disorder means periods of despair for some women

For the most part, Cori Lint was happy. She worked days as a software engineer and nights as a part-time cellist, filling her free hours with inline skating and gardening and long talks with friends.

3 Jul 2024

Republicans are downplaying abortion, but it keeps coming up

For generations, the GOP campaigned on eliminating the right to an abortion in the United States. Now, torn between a base that wants more restrictions on reproductive health care and a moderate majority that does not, it seems many Republicans would rather take an off-ramp than a victory lap.

28 Jun 2024

Rate of young women getting sterilized doubled after ‘Roe’ was overturned

Sophia Ferst remembers her reaction to learning that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade: She needed to get sterilized.

27 Jun 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Nursing home staffing rules prompt pushback

It's not surprising that the nursing home industry is filing lawsuits to block new Biden administration rules requiring minimum staffing at facilities that accept federal dollars.

6 Jun 2024

Novel male contraceptive gel suppresses sperm production faster than similar birth control methods

A novel male contraceptive gel combining two hormones, segesterone acetate (named Nestorone) and testosterone, suppresses sperm production faster than similar experimental hormone-based methods for male birth control, according to a new study.

3 Jun 2024

Breakthrough male contraceptive gel shows rapid results in clinical trial

Male contraceptive gel combines hormones for faster sperm production suppression.

3 Jun 2024

Non-hormonal sperm-specific approach offers a promising option for reversible male contraception

The world's population has increased by more than 2.6-fold in the last 60 years. The growing trend continues – projections indicate that the number of people living on our planet will grow to 9 billion by 2037 from 8 billion in 2022.

23 May 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Bird flu lands as the next public health challenge

Public health officials are watching with concern since a strain of bird flu spread to dairy cows in at least nine states, and to at least one dairy worker.

16 May 2024

Democrats seek to make GOP pay for threats to reproductive rights

Democrat Lucas Kunce is trying to pin reproductive care restrictions on Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), betting it will boost his chances of unseating the incumbent in November.

10 May 2024

China faces continuing fertility drop across all regions, new study finds

Temporal trends in total fertility rates and investigated the regional variations and differences in total fertility rates.

16 Apr 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Arizona turns back the clock on abortion access

The Arizona Supreme Court shook up the national abortion debate this week, ruling that a ban originally passed in 1864 — before the end of the Civil War and decades before Arizona became a state — could be enforced.

12 Apr 2024

California universities are required to offer abortion pills. Many just don’t mention it.

When Deanna Gomez found out she was pregnant in September 2023, she felt the timing couldn't have been worse.

2 Apr 2024

Contraceptive content shared on social media largely not from health experts, study finds

Brigham researchers looked at tweets from 2014 to 2019 about contraceptive methods and found that only a small fraction were authored by health professionals.

29 Mar 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Supreme Court and the abortion pill

In its first abortion case since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Supreme Court this week looked unlikely to uphold an appeals court ruling that would dramatically restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone.

28 Mar 2024