Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Updated Birth Control Training For Counselors Cuts Unintended Pregnancies
The most effective reversible birth control methods are hormonal implants and intrauterine devices. Less than 1 percent of women using these long-acting contraceptive methods will become pregnant over the course of a year. That's compared to 9 percent of women using the pill who will get pregnant, and to 18 percent of women whose partners use a condom. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco had an interesting idea about how to increase that rate. Instead of directly educating women about IUDs and implants, they conducted a study to see if educating health care workers about the latest innovations and statistics regarding contraceptives would make a difference. It did. Unintended pregnancy rates among young women in the study dropped by almost half. (Aliferis, 6/16)
Training staffers at reproductive health clinics to educate women about birth control options ultimately cut pregnancy rates in half, according to a new study. For the new study, the researchers randomly assigned 40 Planned Parenthood reproductive health clinics to receive training or continue normal care without the added training from 2011 to 2013. (Seaman, 6/16)
Meanwhile, some congressional Republicans want to increase access to over-the-counter birth control -
Republicans believe they’ve found one way to begin to blunt incessant attacks that they’re anti-women: increase access to over-the-counter birth control. Democrats call the proposal by several GOP senators a political ploy by a party that’s more interested in fighting reproductive rights and Obamacare. (Kim and Haberkorn, 6/17)
