According to a recent study, more women are turning to longer-lasting birth control methods such as IUDs because it is easier than taking daily pills like Yaz. The study, conducted by researchers at the Guttmacher Institute, reviewed information from the National Survey of Family Growth from 2006 and 2008. They found that more women are using IUDs like the Copper T or the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (commonly known as Mirena).
Women are also using implants that are inserted under the skin in the arm. The Implanon implant is getting a rise in popularity, for example. These reversible, but long-lasting birth control methods have seen an increase of 2.4 percent usage in 2002 to 5.6 percent in 2008. Public health experts say that women like these devices more and more because they work and require almost no maintenance once inserted, whereas birth control pills like Yaz have to be taken daily.
It’s possible that women are also trying to avoid the many health risks that are associated with pills like Yaz and Yasmin, which have been the subject of thousands of lawsuits. Health Canada and the FDA have been reviewing Yaz risks for blood clots after thousands of lawsuits have accused the makers of Yaz of hiding the risks from the public. Some of those risks include blood clots, heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolisms and even sudden death.
Now that more women are switching to IUDs, it is believed that women that have already had babies are the ones more likely to use the implants and IUDs, as well as older women.
“With childbearing occurring at later ages, the fertile period before childbearing can be as long as that after childbearing,” wrote the authors. “The potential for long-acting reversible contraceptive methods to decrease unintended pregnancy rates and subsequent abortions is gaining much-needed attention.”
