Birth Control News and Research

RSS

Web-based decision aid helps pregnant women to make informed decisions about sterilization

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a simple, web-based decision aid called My Decision/Mi Decisión that helps empower pregnant individuals who are considering tubal sterilization to make informed decisions about their reproductive health, according to a new study published today in JAMA Network Open.

19 Mar 2024

Homeless women experience practical challenges in managing menstruation alongside feelings of embarrassment and shame

A new study published online in Women and Health reviews literature on this topic, from the practical challenges through the emotional strain to demonstrations of resourcefulness in managing periods while homeless.

19 Mar 2024

Addressing period poverty among homeless women

Research from the University of Southampton has identified common issues women face when experiencing periods while homeless.

18 Mar 2024

The state of the union is … busy

President Joe Biden is working to lay out his health agenda for a second term, even as Congress races to finish its overdue spending bills for the fiscal year that began last October.

7 Mar 2024

Novel screening system reveals sperm cell development and health at the molecular level

A novel screening system developed at Kyoto University enables researchers to investigate sperm cell development and health at the molecular level.

5 Mar 2024

Unlocking non-hormonal male contraception with HDAC inhibitors

Surveys show most men in the United States are interested in using male contraceptives, yet their options remain limited to unreliable condoms or invasive vasectomies.

20 Feb 2024

Managing migraines and menopausal symptoms to reduce cardiovascular risks in middle-aged women

14 Feb 2024

Hormonal steroids could make gonorrhea untreatable

You know that package warning that oral birth control won't prevent STIs? Well in the case of gonorrhea, the sexually transmitted bacterium that causes the disease can use those hormones to help it resist antibiotic attacks.

8 Feb 2024

Birth control pills may alter stress response, increase inflammation risk, study suggests

A new UCLA Health study is shedding light on how using hormonal contraceptive pills may affect women's responses to stress and their risk for inflammation-related illnesses.

7 Dec 2023

Health care is front and center as Desantis and Newsom go mano a mano

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom — political rivals from opposite coasts and proxies for red and blue America — are set to square off for a first-of-its-kind debate Nov. 30 in Georgia.

27 Nov 2023

Hormonal contraceptives taken by adolescents may affect risk assessment behavior

Hormonal contraceptives taken by adolescents may influence development of the brain in a way that alters the recognition of risks, a new study in rats suggests.

13 Nov 2023

How do sex hormones and birth control affect brain fear circuits?

Researchers explores how oral contraceptive pill use interacts with the current hormonal status to affect the fear circuit structure within the brain.

9 Nov 2023

Clotting risk from birth control normalizes within weeks of stopping hormonal contraceptives

Using birth control pills and other hormone-based contraceptives is known to elevate the risk of blood clots about three-fold, but a new study suggests that this risk largely goes away within two to four weeks after one stops using these contraceptives, according to research published today in Blood.

8 Nov 2023

Pregnant and addicted: Homeless women see hope in street medicine

Five days after giving birth, Melissa Crespo was already back on the streets, recovering in a damp, litter-strewn water tunnel, when she got the call from the hospital.

18 Oct 2023

Americans will spend a larger share of their lifetime taking prescription drugs, research finds

An American born in 2019 will spend a larger share of their lifetime taking prescription drugs than being married or receiving an education, according to new research by Jessica Ho, associate professor of sociology and demography at Penn State.

12 Oct 2023

KFF Health News' 'What The Health?': 3 health policy experts you should know

In this special episode, host Julie Rovner, KFF Health News' chief Washington correspondent, interviews three noted health policy experts.

31 Aug 2023

Californians headed to HBCUs in the South prepare for college under abortion bans

When I’laysia Vital got accepted to Texas Southern University, a historically Black university in Houston, she immediately began daydreaming about the sense of freedom that would come with living on her own, and the sense of belonging she would feel studying in a thriving Black community.

29 Aug 2023

Few firm beliefs and low trust: Americans not sure what’s true in age of health misinformation

Around 3 in 10 Americans still believe ivermectin is an effective treatment for covid. What's more, few place significant trust in any form of news media or official institution to accurately convey information about health topics, from covid treatments and vaccines to reproductive health issues, a new poll from KFF shows.

22 Aug 2023

How pediatric congenital heart patients can make the leap to adulthood safely

For parents, few words are more earth-shattering than when a pediatrician says the phrase "heart defects."

17 Aug 2023

In Wisconsin, women’s health care is constricted by an 1849 law. These doctors are aghast.

The three women sitting around a table at a busy lunch spot share a grim camaraderie. It's been more than a year since an 1849 law came back into force to criminalize abortion in Wisconsin.

28 Jul 2023