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FEATURE
BEYOND THE PILL
Alternatives to the most popular form of birth control abound, and may include better options for some
// WORDS BY ADAM VOSSEN
// PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ADAM BUHLER
The power of touch. The topical patch, branded in the U.S. as OthetiaEva, releases the hormones estrogen and progestin into the bloodstream to prevent ovulation. It is one of many alternatives to the hormonal pill form of birth control, which some women choose not to take because of potential side effects or because it has to be taken at the same time daily. The pill remains the most popular form of hormonal birth control. No forms of hormonal birth control protect against sexually transmitted infections
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fter using the pill off and on since she was 16, Britta Homelvig was tired of the nausea, the weight gain, the intense mood swings and the high levels of estrogen. When she was 21, Homelvig, Salina senior, made the decision to go off of the hormonal birth control pill.
and explore new birth control options.
According to the most recent data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002, the pill is the leading method of contraception among women ages 15 to 29. But according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the pill's possible side effects include high blood pressure, nausea, heart attack, weight gain, changes in mood and changes in cycle.
The pill works using hormones to trick a woman's body into thinking it's pregnant. Some versions of the pill have both progestin and estrogen, called combination pills. Other versions have just progestin. These hormones stop a woman's ovaries from releasing eggs as well as thicken the cervical mucus. This mucus blocks the sperm from joining with an egg. The combination pills are most common, says Carol Johnson, obstetrician and gynecologist at Watkins Health Center. The combination pills provide a more complete feedback mechanism to control the pituitary gland's hormone production.
To be most effective, the pill has to be taken at the same time every day. If a progestin-only pill is skipped, there is a higher chance for ovulation to begin than if a combination pill is skipped, Johnson says. Progestin-only pills have a higher rate of breakthrough bleeding whereas the combination pill has side effects such as blood clotting or stroke.
The FDA alone lists 15 alternatives to the pill. Some are more relevant for college students than others, however. Several have lower rates of pregnancy than the pill. No birth control method other than condoms prevent sexually transmitted infections.
IMPLANTABLE ROD
After going off of the pill, Homelvig chose Implanon as her birth control method. Doctors implant this matchstick-sized rod into her arm to release progestin to prevent ovulation. It is made of a thin, flexible plastic and protects against pregnancy for as many as three years. About one out of 100 women a year will become pregnant using this method of birth control. Although the rod is progestin-only, the level of progestin that it releases remains constant and provides a more stable form of birth control than the progestin-only pill.
"Insert it and forget it," says Larry Nibbelink, obstetrician and gynecologist at Associates for Female Care in Kansas City, Kan.
The case of use is the one of best qualities of Implanon, the brand name for the rod, Homelvig says. She prefers it because she isn't stressed out by remembering to take her pill at the same time every day.
The cost of the implantable rod can range from $400 to $800 when it is inserted, but as Homelvg points out, that cost equals roughly the cost of the pill for the three-year period that Implanon is effective. Homelvg describes the implantation procedure, which
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