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.

The Male Contraceptive Pill: is it possible?

What are the 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

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

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

The Effects of Continuous Contraceptive Pill Taking

Latest Contraception News and Research

Weill Cornell Medicine receives NIH grant to lead a national contraceptive research center

Weill Cornell Medicine has received a three-year, nearly $6 million grant to lead one of three national contraceptive research centers.

21 Sep 2023

Study offers new insight into increased risk of blood clots in women

New research from Queen Mary University of London, published in iScience, shows an increased risk of blood clots in women who have any combination of a particular gene mutation, estrogen use, or common medical conditions - specifically: obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and kidney disease.

19 Sep 2023

Abortion bans fuel a rise in high-risk patients heading to Illinois hospitals

When she was around 22 weeks pregnant, the patient found out that the son she was carrying didn’t have kidneys and his lungs wouldn’t develop. If he survived the birth, he would struggle to breathe and die within hours.

14 Sep 2023

NSAID use linked to higher risk of blood clots in women of reproductive age, association stronger in women on high-risk hormonal contraception

A new paper published in The BMJ explores the effect of these drugs used concomitantly on the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE).

8 Sep 2023

Is a very low-calorie diet the answer to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)?

The effects of a very low-calorie diet to a moderate energy deficit diet in obese women with PCOS.

8 Sep 2023

Women using NSAIDs alongside hormonal contraception may be at increased risk of blood clots

Women who use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers alongside hormonal contraception appear to be at a small increased risk of blood clots known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), finds a large Danish study published by The BMJ today.

7 Sep 2023

The efficacy and safety of anti-androgens in the management of hormonal and clinical features of PCOS

The safety and efficacy of anti-androgens in managing polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

1 Sep 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

How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact childbearing rates in the United States?

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on childbearing rates in the United States.

21 Aug 2023

Levonorgestrel-piroxicam co-treatment shows promise as more effective emergency contraception

Taking piroxicam, an anti-inflammatory medication commonly used for arthritis pain, at the same time as the levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive pill after unprotected sex prevents significantly more pregnancies compared to taking levonorgestrel alone, according to a randomised controlled trial published in The Lancet.

17 Aug 2023

‘Conscience’ bills let medical providers opt out of providing a wide range of care

A new Montana law will provide sweeping legal protections to health care practitioners who refuse to prescribe marijuana or participate in procedures and treatments such as abortion, medically assisted death, gender-affirming care, or others that run afoul of their ethical, moral, or religious beliefs or principles.

3 Aug 2023

Anemia: A global health problem with wide disparities

Anemia affected nearly 2 billion people in 2021, impacting women to a greater degree than men. In a new study covering three decades of global anemia data (1990–2021), a complex picture emerges of how several key factors play into the divergence in success stories among men, women, and children.

31 Jul 2023

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Another try for mental health ‘parity’

The Biden administration continued a bipartisan, decades-long effort to ensure that health insurance treats mental illnesses the same as other ailments, with a new set of regulations aimed at ensuring that services are actually available without years-long waits or excessive out-of-pocket costs.

27 Jul 2023

New female contraceptive under development: end-user preferences revealed in web-based survey

Researchers investigated prospective end-user preferences for an on-demand, non-hormonal female contraception.

26 Jul 2023

Once the new over-the-counter birth control pill is available, What about cost and coverage?

Last week, the FDA approved Opill, the first daily oral contraceptive that will be available for sale over the counter in stores as well as online. Reproductive health advocates hailed the groundbreaking approval as a step that can help millions of people avoid pregnancy, which is unintended nearly half the time in the United States.

19 Jul 2023

Understanding the impact of HPV on the vaginal microbiome and its role in cervical cancer

Researchers determine whether cervical cancer risk could be assessed using microflora-derived metabolites in HPV-infected females.

17 Jul 2023

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The long road to reining in short-term plans

It took more than two years, but the Biden administration has finally kept a promise made by then-candidate Joe Biden to roll back the Trump administration's expansion of short-term, limited-duration health plans.

13 Jul 2023

Need to get Plan B or an HIV test online? Facebook may know about it

Looking for an at-home HIV test on CVS' website is not as private an experience as one might think. An investigation by The Markup and KFF Health News found trackers on CVS.com telling some of the biggest social media and advertising platforms the products customers viewed.

30 Jun 2023

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A year without Roe

It's an understatement to say a lot has happened in the year since the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

29 Jun 2023

UW Medicine reaffirms support for access to abortion care

The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, has had significant impacts nationally on healthcare justice, affecting the health, financial stability and opportunity for many people across the country.