The Good 5 Cent Cigar

Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Campus

Media Credit: Ashley Salah Deb Erickson-Owens Speaks at the birth control options lecture at Independence Hall auditorium.

03/13/08 - Approximately 49 percent of pregnancies in the United States are unintended according to the Guttmacher Institute. Nurse-midwife and University of Rhode Island nursing doctoral candidate Deb Erickson-Owens explained various methods to reduce the chance of pregnancy last night in Independence Hall during the women's studies' annual Fredrika Schweers Memorial Lecture on Women and Health.

The audience of approximately 50 people included only four men. Erickson-Owens said she was not surprised by the gender split of the audience.

Erickson-Owens described the many reasons behind unintended pregnancies. Except for abstinence, no birth control method is 100 percent effective and effectiveness of methods is reduced with inconsistent or incorrect use, she said. Also, some women are under the impression that they cannot get pregnant. Erickson-Owens sees this at Providence's Women and Infants Hospital, where she works with teenagers.

"Teens are influenced by their friends and what's on the market," she said. "I have to watch TV to know what they're talking about."

Erickson-Owens shared statistics that compared the effectiveness of birth control methods, focusing on the effectiveness with typical use, which she referred to as "real life use."

She compared the many birth control options to a maze. The variety of options can be overwhelming to not only the sexually active who must decide, but clinicians who advise patients on birth control.

"At the end of the maze is the best method for the woman and her partner," she said.

The most effective birth control available now is Implanon, a small rod filled with the female hormone progestin implanted in a woman's upper arm. Implanon lasts for three years and is 99.95 percent effective against pregnancy, according to the FDA. However, like all hormonal contraception, Implanon does not protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Oral contraception, commonly known as "the pill," is the most popular method among women of childbearing age, which Erickson-Owens estimated as 15 to 44 years of age. Birth control pills use female hormones to prevent pregnancy. Other hormonal birth control methods are the Ortho-Evra patch, which must be changed weekly, the Nuva Ring, which is worn for three weeks at a time and the Depo-Provera shot, which lasts for three months.

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