WLM
| Wyoming Woman
CONTRACEPTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Brings Convenient Options for Women
by Travis D. Klingler, MD
E
ach year, half of all pregnancies in
the United States are unintended.
And half of those unintended
pregnancies – or one in four
pregnancies overall – end in abortion (of
interest, the abortion rate in the United
States is the highest of all Western
developed countries and Japan). These
statistics speak to the importance of effective,
accessible contraception.
No single method, however, is universally
suitable for all women and many factors
affect a woman’s choice of contraception.
There are many properties that constitute
an “ideal” contraceptive method, including
effectiveness, the likelihood of compliance,
frequency of intercourse, age, cost, side
effects, and many other factors. Discretion
is also important to many women, who
regard the decision of whether or not to use
contraception (and which form to select) as
a private matter.
There are several good options that have
been available for many years. This
includes oral contraceptives (often referred
to as “The Pill”), and barrier methods
(including the use of condoms). Longeracting methods have also been available,
including depot medroxyprogesterone
acetate (DMPA) injections, subdermal
implants, and intrauterine devices (IUDs).
Of course there is always the permanent
method of tubal ligation (“tubes tied”) when
sterilization is desired.
More recently, several new contraceptive
methods have been approved for use in
the United States. These methods provide
additional choices to women and their
physicians. In addition to being safe and
effective, these new options are also
intended to be easier to use, resulting in
better compliance. A few of the newer
options include:
• Mirena IUD is an intrauterine device that
uses a rate-controlled membrane to ensure
continuous release of Levonorgestrel,
a highly potent progestin that provides
effective treatment when released directly
into the uterine cavity. It is approved for five
year use, which makes it a very convenient
long- \