Contraception

Birth control, also known as contraception and fertility control, is a method or device used to prevent pregnancy.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Contraceptive Patch

The oral contraceptive pill was used widely because of its high efficacy. However, poor patient compliance inevitably led to higher-than-ideal pregnancy rates, as users often forgot to take the pill at the right time, to take it every day, or had gastrointestinal conditions which interfered with its digestion and absorption.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Contraceptive Implants

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Contraceptive Vaginal Ring

Do Contraceptive Injections Affect Bones?

How Does the Progestogen-only Pill Work?

Natural Family Planning: an Overview

Natural Family Planning: Advantages and Disadvantages

Contraception and STIs

Contraception in Over 50s

Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) Types

Female Sterilization

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Progestogen-Only Pill (POP)

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IUD: Advantages and Disadvantages

IUS: Advantages and Disadvantages

Intrauterine Device (IUD) and Intrauterine System (IUS) Differences

How Does the Contraceptive Vaginal Ring Work?

How Does the Contraceptive Implant Work?

How is the Contraceptive Implant Put in and Taken Out?

How Effective are Different Types of Contraception?

How to insert a diaphragm, cap or vaginal ring

How to Use the Patch

What is the Contraceptive Patch?

Types of Contraception

Types of Combined Birth Control Pills

Male Condom versus Female Condom

How Does The Combined Pill Work?

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Combined Pill

Emergency Contraception

Does Breastfeeding Act as a Contraceptive?

Condoms for Oral and Anal Sex

Condoms - Advantages and Disadvantages

How Effective are Condoms?

Combined Pill FAQs

Blood Clot Risk and the Oral Contraceptive Pill

Latest Contraception News and Research

Contraception is free to women, except when it’s not

For Stephanie Force, finding a birth control method that she likes and can get without paying out-of-pocket has been a struggle, despite the Affordable Care Act's promise of free contraceptives for women and adolescent girls in most health plans.

23 Jul 2021

Novel two-component intervention may help prevent unintended pregnancy among women using opioids

Increases in maternal opioid use have led to an almost doubling in the number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in the U.S. in the past 10 years.

16 Jul 2021

Biden is caught in the middle of polarizing abortion politics

It took five months for the Biden administration to make a substantive policy change to advance abortion rights. And even that change was buried in a 61-page regulation setting rules for 2022's Affordable Care Act enrollment.

12 Jul 2021

Can age, sex, BMI or blood group influence the immunogenicity of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine?

A group of Belgium researchers recently discuss their findings in the journal Microorganisms, which describe the influence of several factors on vaccine-induced immunogenicity.

1 Jul 2021

Protein blueprint may aid in treatments for infertility and help protect future fertility

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine have developed a blueprint for a protein that plays an important role in the development and regulation of reproductive organs.

22 Jun 2021

Lack of contraception data could conceal pandemic’s impact on women’s reproductive health

Limited data on the uptake of contraception prior to and during crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic could mean unforeseen issues for sexual and reproductive health services, research from the University of Warwick concludes.

17 Jun 2021

With restrictions tightening elsewhere, California moves to make abortion cheaper

Even as most states are trying to make it harder to get an abortion, California could make it free for more people.

7 Jun 2021

Researchers review 50 years of progress in women's health

Debates over women's health have long been contentious, but have also resulted in significant improvements in areas like equitable access to health care and survivorship. But the overall picture remains far from perfect.

31 May 2021

Study shows that breast cancer can be prevented with better contraception choices

Hormonal contraceptives, e.g. the pill, the patch, and the vaginal ring, contain synthetic hormones that prevent pregnancy by either stopping ovulation, changing the cervical mucus to stop sperm from passing through the cervix and finding an egg, or changing the womb's lining to prevent a fertilized egg from being implanted in it.

29 May 2021

Achieving Equality for Women's Health and Beyond

In recognition of the International Day of Action for Women's Health, we spoke to Dame Claire Bertschinger about what changes need to made to achieve gender equality.

28 May 2021

One in seven Ohio women visits crisis pregnancy center, shows study

An estimated one in seven Ohio women of adult, reproductive age has visited a crisis pregnancy center, a new study has found.

28 May 2021

Lifting FDA restrictions on mifepristone could normalize medication abortion

In a new study published online in spring 2021 and in the July issue of the journal Contraception, University of Chicago Medicine investigators and colleagues interviewed primary care providers in Illinois about their interest in providing medication abortion care and found that lifting FDA restrictions on mifepristone to allow pharmacy dispensing could normalize medication abortion, facilitate its use in primary care facilities, and address disparities in reproductive health access.

27 May 2021

International Day of Action for Women’s Health: An Interview with UN Women

In commemoration of the International Day of Action for Women's Health, we interviewed Nazneen Damji, from UN Women, about women's health in 2021.

26 May 2021

Phase 2 trial shows INO-4800 SARS-CoV-2 DNA vaccine safe and tolerable in adults

Preliminary clinical trial results from an ongoing Phase 2/3 trial led by Laurent M. Humeau of Inovio Pharmaceuticals suggest the two-dose INO-4800 vaccine is safe for use in adults of varying ages. The results expand on phase 1 trial results that found the vaccine was safe and tolerable in 38 participants.

16 May 2021

Repurposing an existing, cheap drug into long-acting injectable therapy to treat Covid-19

Researchers from the University of Liverpool have shown the potential of repurposing an existing and cheap drug into a long-acting injectable therapy that could be used to treat Covid-19.

5 May 2021

Disruptions to essential health services due to COVID-19 pandemic persist in 90% of countries

The second round of a World Health Organization "pulse survey" reveals that over one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, substantial disruptions persist, with about 90% of countries still reporting one or more disruptions to essential health services, marking no substantial global change since the first survey conducted in the summer of 2020.

23 Apr 2021