A new government report has shown that the American women are increasingly preferring long-lasting reversible contraceptives (LARC), such as hormone implant and intrauterine device (IUD), in order to get rid of unwanted pregnancies.
The new figures showing the trend of LARC use in the United States were provided by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The NCHS figures showed the use of IUD has surged by around 83 percent between 2006-2010 and 2011-2013, i.e. jumped than the average recorded in the past. On the other hand, the report showed the number of implants tripled during the same time period.
The experts said the increasing trend among the American women of using the two birth control measures is all because of their effectiveness which is nearly 99 percent.
Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, Yale School of Medicine professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, said it’s a good sign that LARC use is increasing among Americans as it will keep a check on the unwanted pregnancies and their unlimited surge.
Megan Kavanaugh, a senior scientist and public health expert at the Guttmacher Institute, said, “The surging trend in the use of birth control measures by women is largely because of the increased awareness as well as education among providers that these techniques are appropriate for women at all stages of their reproductive career.”
The last decade has seen an overall five-fold surge in the LARC use by women aged 15 to 44. The use of LARC dramatically rose from a dismal 1.5 percent in 2002 to an impressive 7.2 percent from 2011 to 2013. Women in the age group 15 to 24 are likely to opt for LARC at five percent in comparison to 11 percent of women who were in the age group 15 to 24.