Facts on Contraceptive Use in the U.S.

_
_ Posts: 6,657
edited March 2010 in A Moving Train
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_contr_use.html

(Click on the link for failure rates by contraceptive method and more info. Note that the Mirena IUD has the lowest failure rate of all forms of contraception - including sterilization - and yet it accounts for only 2% of contraceptive use.)

• 62 million U.S. women are in their childbearing years (15–44).

• 43 million women of reproductive age, or 7 in 10, are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant, but could become pregnant if they or their partners fail to use a contraceptive method.

• The typical U.S. woman wants only 2 children. To achieve this goal, she must use contraceptives for roughly 3 decades.

• Virtually all women (98%) aged 15–44 who have ever had intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method.

• Overall, 62% of the 62 million women aged 15–44 are currently using one.

• 31% of the 62 million women do not need a method because they are infertile; are pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant; have never had intercourse; or are not sexually active.

• Thus, only 7% of women aged 15–44 are at risk of unwanted pregnancy but are not using contraceptives.

• 64% of reproductive-age women who practice contraception use reversible methods, such as oral contraceptives or condoms. The remaining women rely on female or male sterilization.

• Contraceptive choices vary markedly with age. For women younger than 30, the pill is the leading method. By age 35, more women rely on sterilization.

• Teenagers (aged 15–19) who do not use a contraceptive at first sex are twice as likely to become teen mothers as are teenagers who use a method.

• The proportion of women who used a contraceptive method the first time they had sex has nearly doubled, from 43% in the 1970s to 79% in 1999–2002. The change is mostly due to an increase—from 22% to 67%—in the proportion using the male condom at first sex.

• The proportion of women using contraceptives at first intercourse increases as age at first intercourse increases. 55% of women who first had sex before age 16 used a method, compared with 70% who first had sex at age 19 or older.
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Comments

  • Starfall
    Starfall Posts: 548
    Notice how birth control seems to fall solely on the shoulders of women?

    If only men would be actually more involved in the process, we'd have a lot fewer unintended pregnancies.
    "It's not hard to own something. Or everything. You just have to know that it's yours, and then be willing to let it go." - Neil Gaiman, "Stardust"
  • gimmesometruth27
    gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 24,470
    Starfall wrote:
    Notice how birth control seems to fall solely on the shoulders of women?

    If only men would be actually more involved in the process, we'd have a lot fewer unintended pregnancies.
    you mean we should do more than just "pull out and pray"???? :shock: :shock:




    just kidding of course, i agree completely that men should be more responsible than they are...
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • Starfall
    Starfall Posts: 548
    gimmesometruth27 wrote:
    Starfall wrote:
    Notice how birth control seems to fall solely on the shoulders of women?

    If only men would be actually more involved in the process, we'd have a lot fewer unintended pregnancies.
    you mean we should do more than just "pull out and pray"???? :shock: :shock:

    I think we should get more BJ's, but I digress.... :lol:
    "It's not hard to own something. Or everything. You just have to know that it's yours, and then be willing to let it go." - Neil Gaiman, "Stardust"
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    Starfall wrote:
    gimmesometruth27 wrote:
    Starfall wrote:
    Notice how birth control seems to fall solely on the shoulders of women?

    If only men would be actually more involved in the process, we'd have a lot fewer unintended pregnancies.
    you mean we should do more than just "pull out and pray"???? :shock: :shock:

    I think we should get more BJ's, but I digress.... :lol:

    You could all just give them to each other and then pregnancy wouldn't be an issue. ;)
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    Starfall wrote:
    Notice how birth control seems to fall solely on the shoulders of women?

    If only men would be actually more involved in the process, we'd have a lot fewer unintended pregnancies.

    I can't help but notice that, although vasectomies are more effective than tubals, they account for only 9% of contraception while tubals account for 27%.
  • Starfall
    Starfall Posts: 548
    scb wrote:
    Starfall wrote:
    gimmesometruth27 wrote:
    you mean we should do more than just "pull out and pray"???? :shock: :shock:

    I think we should get more BJ's, but I digress.... :lol:

    You could all just give them to each other and then pregnancy wouldn't be an issue. ;)

    Well you know that old saying: The definition of a good friend is someone who, when he gets two blowjobs, graciously gives you one. :lol:
    scb wrote:
    Starfall wrote:
    Notice how birth control seems to fall solely on the shoulders of women?

    If only men would be actually more involved in the process, we'd have a lot fewer unintended pregnancies.

    I can't help but notice that, although vasectomies are more effective than tubals, they account for only 9% of contraception while tubals account for 27%.

    Plus vasectomies are far less invasive, take much less time, and use a local anesthetic. Tubal ligations involve major surgery.
    "It's not hard to own something. Or everything. You just have to know that it's yours, and then be willing to let it go." - Neil Gaiman, "Stardust"
  • moemoe
    moemoe Posts: 72
    Plus vasectomies are far less invasive, take much less time, and use a local anesthetic. Tubal ligations involve major surgery.[/quote]


    I am willing to bet, with the US having such a high cesarean rate (around 30%), that a significant percentage of tubal ligations are done during that surgery.
  • megatron
    megatron Posts: 3,420
    Starfall wrote:
    gimmesometruth27 wrote:
    Starfall wrote:
    Notice how birth control seems to fall solely on the shoulders of women?

    If only men would be actually more involved in the process, we'd have a lot fewer unintended pregnancies.
    you mean we should do more than just "pull out and pray"???? :shock: :shock:

    I think we should get more BJ's, but I digress.... :lol:

    and that goes back on their shoulders.
  • cincybearcat
    cincybearcat Posts: 16,895
    scb wrote:
    http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_contr_use.html

    (Click on the link for failure rates by contraceptive method and more info. Note that the Mirena IUD has the lowest failure rate of all forms of contraception - including sterilization - and yet it accounts for only 2% of contraceptive use.)

    • 62 million U.S. women are in their childbearing years (15–44).

    • 43 million women of reproductive age, or 7 in 10, are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant, but could become pregnant if they or their partners fail to use a contraceptive method.

    • The typical U.S. woman wants only 2 children. To achieve this goal, she must use contraceptives for roughly 3 decades.

    • Virtually all women (98%) aged 15–44 who have ever had intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method.

    • Overall, 62% of the 62 million women aged 15–44 are currently using one.

    • 31% of the 62 million women do not need a method because they are infertile; are pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant; have never had intercourse; or are not sexually active.

    • Thus, only 7% of women aged 15–44 are at risk of unwanted pregnancy but are not using contraceptives.

    • 64% of reproductive-age women who practice contraception use reversible methods, such as oral contraceptives or condoms. The remaining women rely on female or male sterilization.

    • Contraceptive choices vary markedly with age. For women younger than 30, the pill is the leading method. By age 35, more women rely on sterilization.

    • Teenagers (aged 15–19) who do not use a contraceptive at first sex are twice as likely to become teen mothers as are teenagers who use a method.

    • The proportion of women who used a contraceptive method the first time they had sex has nearly doubled, from 43% in the 1970s to 79% in 1999–2002. The change is mostly due to an increase—from 22% to 67%—in the proportion using the male condom at first sex.

    • The proportion of women using contraceptives at first intercourse increases as age at first intercourse increases. 55% of women who first had sex before age 16 used a method, compared with 70% who first had sex at age 19 or older.


    So when you talk about people not having access to bc, that was basically bullshit then, right? ;)
    hippiemom = goodness
  • Starfall
    Starfall Posts: 548
    jones wrote:
    Starfall wrote:
    gimmesometruth27 wrote:
    you mean we should do more than just "pull out and pray"???? :shock: :shock:

    I think we should get more BJ's, but I digress.... :lol:

    and that goes back on their shoulders.

    Don't you mean on their knees? :lol:
    "It's not hard to own something. Or everything. You just have to know that it's yours, and then be willing to let it go." - Neil Gaiman, "Stardust"
  • blackredyellow
    blackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    moemoe wrote:
    I am willing to bet, with the US having such a high cesarean rate (around 30%), that a significant percentage of tubal ligations are done during that surgery.

    I was sorta thinking the same thing... I'd like to see the rate for tubals as stand-alone procedures.
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • dunkman
    dunkman Posts: 19,646
    best contraceptive ever...

    fat-woman-zipping-up-pants-1.jpg
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    cincybearcat wrote:
    So when you talk about people not having access to bc, that was basically bullshit then, right? ;)

    No, not at all, but nice try. ;)

    Notice how the pill is the #1 form of contraception used and its real failure rate is 29 times higher than it would be with perfect use? That's in large part because of access issues.

    It's the same with Depo, the patch, & the 1-month injectable having 22, 27, & 60 times higher failure rates than they should, respectively.

    Notice how the Mirena, which has the highest efficacy of any other method of contraception, is only used by probably 1% (certainly less than 2%) of the population of contraceptive users? That's in large part because of access issues. (Remember, by the way, that I've said people don't have consistent access to the most reliable forms of birth control.)

    I would also suggest that more people would get tubals and vasectomies (or at least more would get them in time to avoid unintended pregnancy) if access were better.
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    blackredyellow wrote:
    moemoe wrote:
    I am willing to bet, with the US having such a high cesarean rate (around 30%), that a significant percentage of tubal ligations are done during that surgery.

    I was sorta thinking the same thing... I'd like to see the rate for tubals as stand-alone procedures.

    In the U.S., half of all tubal sterilizations are done as interval procedures (meaning they're unrelated in time to a pregnancy). About 3.5% are done after elective or spontaneous abortion. (Both stats are from the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists.) I'm not immediately finding data on postpartum tubals after vaginal delivery vs. after cesarean delivery.
  • Drowned Out
    Drowned Out Posts: 6,056
    scb wrote:
    Starfall wrote:
    Notice how birth control seems to fall solely on the shoulders of women?

    If only men would be actually more involved in the process, we'd have a lot fewer unintended pregnancies.

    I can't help but notice that, although vasectomies are more effective than tubals, they account for only 9% of contraception while tubals account for 27%.
    This surprises me. I don't know a single woman from my generation that has had a tubal....several of my friends have had vasectomies. I think those numbers are (or should be) changing.
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    Drowned Out wrote:
    scb wrote:
    Starfall wrote:
    Notice how birth control seems to fall solely on the shoulders of women?

    If only men would be actually more involved in the process, we'd have a lot fewer unintended pregnancies.

    I can't help but notice that, although vasectomies are more effective than tubals, they account for only 9% of contraception while tubals account for 27%.
    This surprises me. I don't know a single woman from my generation that has had a tubal....several of my friends have had vasectomies. I think those numbers are (or should be) changing.

    I don't know what your generation is. But is it possible that your male friends are more likely to talk to you about their vasectomies than your female friends are to talk to you about their tubals?

    Also, aren't you from Canada? Is it possible that the U.S. has different access issues than Canada does?
  • keeponrockin
    keeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    As a 19 year old guy.. I would never sleep with a girl without wearing a condom. I don't need a mini keeponrockin running around thank you!
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    keeponrockin wrote:
    As a 19 year old guy.. I would never sleep with a girl without wearing a condom. I don't need a mini keeponrockin running around thank you!

    You're a guy?! I always thought you were a woman. Oops! I guess you learn something new every day. Carry on...
  • Drowned Out
    Drowned Out Posts: 6,056
    scb wrote:

    I don't know what your generation is. But is it possible that your male friends are more likely to talk to you about their vasectomies than your female friends are to talk to you about their tubals?

    Also, aren't you from Canada? Is it possible that the U.S. has different access issues than Canada does?
    I'm 35.
    Every guy I know who has had a vasectomy has been married, so I know the females didn't get tubals. yes, it's possible that i didn't hear about other friend's that went the other route....But I do know that the dr's push hard for V's - my ex and I brought it up to her ob/gyn, and he basically said that he 100% frowned on tubals in a married couple, regardless of whether it was a c-section or not, esp because of our ages (V being more easily reversible).
    Access - didn't look that far into it...don't know if there are costs or excessive waits involved in either country...
  • keeponrockin
    keeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    scb wrote:
    keeponrockin wrote:
    As a 19 year old guy.. I would never sleep with a girl without wearing a condom. I don't need a mini keeponrockin running around thank you!

    You're a guy?! I always thought you were a woman. Oops! I guess you learn something new every day. Carry on...
    Haha, I guess its from the Alison Mosshart avatar...
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V

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