Teens Are Taking More Reliable Birth Control

The teen birth rate in the U.S. has been declining consistently for more than 30 years, despite the fact that the number of teenage girls having sex has not changed since at least 2002. A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests a key driver of this trend: a dramatic increase in teenage girls using long-lasting and reliable forms of contraception. The percentage of girls ages 15 to 19 using long-acting reversible contraception, which includes intrauterine devices (IUDs) and contraceptive implants, reached a reported high of 19% from 2015-2019. That’s more than three times the rate at which they were used from 2011-2015.  [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Long-lasting birth control can be up to 20 times as effective as birth control pills and other hormonal contraceptive options like the NuvaRing over time, and they can offer years of protection. “Public health focuses on these because they’re easy to use,” says Joyce Amba, a social scientist at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and co-author of the report. “They don’t require a daily regimen like a pill and they’re very effective.” But for many teens, and even women, they can be the most difficult methods of birth control to access. Insurance coverage for teens looking to have an IUD or implant placed can be spotty, and the placement procedures mean that physician visits are more intensive than...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Source Type: news