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NEWS
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Watkins sees jump in long-term birth control
▶ DARBY VANHOUTAN @darbyvanhoutan
s it possible that a presidential election can drive women to their OB-GYNs? Based on numbers obtained from Watkins Memorial Health Center, the answer may be yes.
Kathy Guth, a nurse practitioner at Watkins Health Center, has been busy in recent months with an increase in long-term birth control procedures.
Over the last few months, Watkins has implanted more long-term birth control devices than the same time period last year. The number of intrauterine devices, in particular, has more than doubled.
These numbers involve the time frames of Nov. 2015 to Jan. 2016 and Nov. 2016 to Jan. 2017. In 2016-17, 105 long-term birth control procedures were done, compared to 60 in 2015-16.
This patient increase is consistent with other forms of long-term birth control provided at Watkins. The Skyla IUD, specifically, rose from nine implants to 20 implants during the same time periods, respectively.
These numbers are in line with a national study
that showed a 19 percent increase in the amount of IUD procedures and prescriptions from Oct. to Dec.2015 and Oct. to Dec. 2016.
Sarah Wright/KANSAN control procedures
According to Kathy Guth, a nurse practitioner in the OB-GYN department at Watkins, the number of women receiving IUDs and other long-term forms of birth control has been rising at the University for several years.
"We started noticing that women really like them," Guth said. "Word of mouth got around. We started seeing that within probably the last five to six years."
"With the election came the scare factor," Guth said. "Nobody knew what was going to happen. Nobody knew what the insurances were going to do. So, then we started seeing more and more people."
However, Guth also believes President Donald Trump's administration has played a role in the recent spike.
This scare factor,
File photo/KANSAN
Watkins Health Center has done almost twice as many long-term birth control procedures in recent months as compared to last year.
according to Guth, comes from a Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, as well as a Republican president. This change of party-driven ideals forces, in this instance, women to look at rights that may either be taken away or restricted, Guth said.
The new administration has everything to do with one student's recent choice to get an IUD. Margo Hellman, a sophomore from Overland Park, credits her to decision to receive an IUD to Trump.
"I started looking into different forms of birth control mostly because of the election," Hellman said.
"This administration, what it's already done and what it plans to do, is not normal."
I started looking into different forms of birth control mostly because of the election."
Although a baby is not in Hellman's near future, she hopes her decision to practice control over her own body will be a talking point with her children
down the road.
"I mostly want to tell my kids one day that I was one of the many people who got IUDs and donated to Planned Parenthood in Mike Pence's name after the election." Hellman said.
Marlena Geller, a sophomore from Denver, received the Mirena IUD in 2014 and remains confident she made the right decision.
"I knew myself well enough to know that I didn't want to take a pill at the same time every day," Geller said. "I wanted complete coverage for five years, and honestly I love the peace of mind."
According to Guth, many women come in with the
same confidence as Geller.
"Most of them say 'Well I have a friend,' or 'I have a sister,' or somebody that does very well with this particular method, and they want to try it," Guth said.
Although no policy has been implemented by the Trump administration against either short-term or long-term birth control so far, Guth believes the numbers will continue to increase among University students.
"We've seen a big increase from last year," Guth said. "There's not just one reason. Our schedules are just getting fuller and fuller. Right now we're just busy with [the IUDs]."
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