Contraceptive Technology Update – October 1, 2022

Levonorgestrel IUDs Are Safe and Effective for Eight Years of Use

Two of the most popular hormonal IUDs can be used for eight years, which can make them an even better option for women seeking long-term, highly effective contraception.

Contraceptive Simulation Can Teach IUD Insertion, Extraction, and Counseling

Family planning staff could learn a lot about contraceptive patient care from realistic simulation sessions. Researchers found positive changes in clinicians’ knowledge and confidence when they practiced inserting IUDs, removing them, and counseling patients in a realistic family planning simulation.

Abortion Providers and Patients Under Threat of Privacy Breaches

Reproductive health providers and people seeking abortion care need only look at the not-so-distant past in the United States to predict a future in which their privacy is in legal and physical jeopardy. Physicians who perform legal abortions also face privacy breaches that place the providers and families at risk from doxing, threats, and other harms.

Providers Can Take Action to Help Prevent Doxing

Increasingly, doctors who provide abortion care are being harassed and vilified through doxing — the online dissemination of their personal information. From July to December 2018, researchers studied a sample of documents posted on an anti-abortion website and found a large percentage of photographs, home addresses, bankruptcy documents, and other personal information.

Self-Administered Depo-Provera Improves Use and Efficacy

Depo-Provera is a convenient option for patients who want a contraceptive that is both effective and can last for several months. But one drawback is that it requires a clinic visit for an injection. This is where an option to self-administer Depo could improve access to and continuation of the contraceptive.

Declining Pregnancy Among U.S. Teens Partly Due to Contraceptive Changes

Pregnancies and births in young people, ages 14 to 18 years, have declined dramatically in recent years when compared to decades past, new research shows. Researchers studied data from 2007 to 2017 and found that delays in first sexual intercourse contributed the most to the trend of declining births over this decade. But declines in the number of sexual partners and changes in contraceptive use — including use of long-acting reversible contraception — also contributed to the trend.

Research Shows Pharmacists Can Easily Dispense Medication Abortion

The results of a recent study support allowing pharmacists to dispense mifepristone directly to people — like any other medication.