[...]... Am 34 (2007) 19–29 Medical Barriers to Effective Contraception Lawrence Leeman, MD, MPH Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico, 2400 Tucker NE, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA It would be a service to mankind if the pill were available in slot machines and the cigarette were placed on prescription dMalcolm Potts, MD Fires and unintended... to and education about contraception, support teen pregnancy prevention programs, and ensure medical accuracy in sex education Because much of the content of sex education is determined at the local level, providers should be aware of their community’s sex education to understand potential gaps in teens’ knowledge, inform adolescents and parents of the importance of comprehensive sex education, and. .. regardless of whether they were married He concluded that because most Americans have sex before marriage, we should provide education and interventions that provide skills and information necessary to prevent unintended pregnancy and STIs regardless of marital status By contrast, Sweden and the Netherlands, both with much lower rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion, are known for early and accurate... Magnani RJ, Haws JM, Morgan GT, et al Vasectomy in the United States, 1991 and 1995 Am J Public Health 1999;89:92–4 [35] Cheng D Family planning training in Maryland family practice and obstetrics/ gynecology residency programs J Am Med Womens Assoc 1999;54:208–10 [36] Landy U Is family planning a subspecialty of obstetrics and gynecology? Contraception 2005;72:399–401 MEDICAL BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE CONTRACEPTION... 2006 [30] Guttmacher Institute State policies in brief: insurance coverage of contraceptives as of January 2007 Available at: http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_ICC .pdf Accessed January 14, 2007 [31] Sonfield A, Benson R, Gold J, et al U.S insurance coverage of contraceptives and the impact of contraceptive coverage mandates, 2002 Perspect Sex Reprod Health 2004;36(2):72–9 [32] US Equal Opportunity... condom ads, and three more accept such ads only after 9 or 11 PM Birth control pill ads are refused by some networks and aired on others but most often with an emphasis on noncontraceptive benefits, such as reduction of acne or ease of use Societal norms and teen pregnancy The level of adolescent pregnancy varies by a factor of almost 10 across developed countries; the United States has one of the highest... Women often need access to discuss side effects after initiating OC use In one study of contraceptive continuation for 2 months after initiation, 22% of women called and 9% scheduled visits with their health care providers [24] Counseling regarding OCs should also address the benefits and misconceptions of their use Studies of highly educated college students showed most were unaware of the majority of. .. who perform about 15% of vasectomies in the United States [33]; however, only 15% of family physicians offered the procedure in 1995 [34] Physicians may be unable to offer the full choice of contraceptive methods because of inadequate family planning training in family medicine (FM) and Ob/Gyn residencies A 1999 study of all the FM and Ob/Gyn residents in Maryland revealed that 20% of Ob/Gyn residents... with and without mandates showed that plans in nonmandate states were significantly less likely to offer the full range of contraceptives (56%) than plans in states with a mandate (90%) [31] A federal mandate such as Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act would be even more helpful, expanding coverage requirements not only to the women who currently live in states without mandates... because of the explicit requirements embodied in the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services [43] These directives explicitly oppose abortion, family planning, sterilization of men and women, emergency contraception, and HIV counseling that includes information about condom use Countering these directives are various state and federal laws that require the provision of some of . of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America, pre- pared by Guest Editor Eve Espey, MD, deals with a very timely update on contraception and. reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ogc .2007. 02.005 obgyn.theclinics.com Obstet Gynecol Clin N Am 34 (2007) xv–xvii Gynecology Clinics of North America, we address exciting