Pediatric Association Recommends IUD Birth Control For Teens

[Skwim]

From today's CBS Morning News:

• More than half the kids in high school have sex

• 750,000 teen pregnancies each year

• 80% (600,000) are unplanned​

"The American Academy of Pediatrics is urging primary care physicians to recommend implantable birth control and IUDs as a first line of protection against teen pregnancy."
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VIDEO from the show
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Your thoughts.

 

[Iti oj]

I worry we will see an increased rise in STDs then..... We just need to reform the system and make condoms even easier to get. and have actual knowledge about sex and not a bunch of puritanical myths.

 

[DreadFish]

Obviously teenagers are gonna have sex and adults aren't going to be able to stop it; it sure hasn't happened yet. Best get 'em educated about how to do it safely and provide easy access to the means to do so. It's a no-brainer to me.

 

[Skwim]

I worry we will see an increased rise in STDs then..... We just need to reform the system and make condoms even easier to get. and have actual knowledge about sex and not a bunch of puritanical myths.

Interestingly, the 15-19 yo age group has a lower std rate than the 20-24 yo age group.
source

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Interestingly, the 15-19 yo age group has a lower std rate than the 20-24 yo age group.
source

This makes sense since they've had less sexual partners and less opportunities to get and spread STI's. Also, the percentage of 20-24 year olds who are sexually active is higher than 15-19 year olds.

As an aside, I'm not sure exactly what the poll is asking. Are you asking whether IUDs should be recommended for teenagers or not?

 

[Estro Felino]

don't you think that the pill is safer?

 

[Iti oj]

This makes sense since they've had less sexual partners and less opportunities to get and spread STI's. Also, the percentage of 20-24 year olds who are sexually active is higher than 15-19 year olds.

As an aside, I'm not sure exactly what the poll is asking. Are you asking whether IUDs should be recommended for teenagers or not?

I was just thinking the same thing. Though i would love more data.

 

[Sunstone]

Makes sense. Easy for teens to forget condoms.

 

[Skwim]

This makes sense since they've had less sexual partners and less opportunities to get and spread STI's. Also, the percentage of 20-24 year olds who are sexually active is higher than 15-19 year olds.

Note that the percentages were given only for increase and decrease. The other figures are all based on the number per 100,000: the rate.

As an aside, I'm not sure exactly what the poll is asking. Are you asking whether IUDs should be recommended for teenagers or not?

Yes.

 

[Revoltingest]

I voted for teens getting IEDs.....er, IUDs.

 

[Skwim]

as for the poll...don't you think that the pill is safer?

Immaterial. The OP is only concerned with IUDs and implantable birth control, although I neglected to mention the later in the title and the poll.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Note that the percentages were given only for increase and decrease. The other figures are all based on the number per 100,000: the rate.

Yes, the rate of contracting sexually transmitted diseases will be lower for a population which has a lower rate of being sexually active. The rate is for the total population, not just the sexually-active portion of that population.

As an aside, I'm not sure exactly what the poll is asking. Are you asking whether IUDs should be recommended for teenagers or not?

Yes.

Got it, thanks.

I guess I'm not sure. Are they currently recommending the pill? Are they recommending IUD over the pill? Are there health considerations or risks associated specifically with the IUD and their use in teenagers?

I certainly thinking making the option known and available is a good thing. However, I'm a bit uncertain about officially recommending a long-term, hormonal birth-control method for an entire sub-population.

 

[DreadFish]

I certainly thinking making the option known and available is a good thing. However, I'm a bit uncertain about officially recommending a long-term, hormonal birth-control method for an entire sub-population.

This would probably be something to look into. I wonder what kind of effects long-term hormonal birth-control might have on developing bodies?

 

[Draka]

There is an IUD out that is actually designed for those having never given birth. Younger women, those looking for a lower dose of progesterone, or wanting it on a lower time frame. It is Skyla. It is not as strong, hormone wise, as Mirena. It is a little smaller as well. And considered ideal for the factors I mentioned. It is for only 3 years, in comparison to the 5 for Mirena or the 10 for Paragard. It, like any other IUD though, can be removed at any time. Unlike the pill, you don't have to remember it daily, there's no chance of forgetting it. It's insert and leave it be for several years.

 

[Vinayaka]

Speaking from second hand experience from a couple of daughters, IUDs seem to have plenty more complications, so I voted no, but I'm a yes for other methods.

 

[ShivaFan]

Who are they recommending be the conduuit between the primary care physicians pushing IUDs and the young teen?

The parents?

Or to the government acting behind the parent's back?

Or the schools acting as conduits without informing parents?

If a parent is taking a teen to see a primary care physician, they can recommend anything they want but the parent can also tell the physician to go to hell and hire a different physician.

If it is either of the other two, this is the government exceeding its authority and is a form of tyranny. If that is what is going on, all public funding of the Association needs to stop, this is just more control of society by incompetent, unaccountable, self-serving obese government. It will not be recommend either, it will be "recommend" like "recommend" means in communist China and what the people in the streets of Hong Kong and Tibet are rejecting under extreme duress right now.

 

[Skwim]

Who are they recommending be the conduuit between the primary care physicians pushing IUDs and the young teen?

The parents?

Or to the government acting behind the parent's back?

Or the schools acting as conduits without informing parents?

If a parent is taking a teen to see a primary care physician, they can recommend anything they want but the parent can also tell the physician to go to hell and hire a different physician.

If it is either of the other two, this is the government exceeding its authority and is a form of tyranny. If that is what is going on, all public funding of the Association needs to stop, this is just more control of society by incompetent, unaccountable, self-serving obese government. It will not be recommend either, it will be "recommend" like "recommend" means in communist China and what the people in the streets of Hong Kong and Tibet are rejecting under extreme duress right now.

Ideally, I suppose, the parents would be involved: however, because we know that some parents are so deathly opposed to any kind of premarital sex they would never allow their daughter to be on any kind of birth control, I think it's quite reasonable that the daughter of such parents, or any teen, be able to receive birth control if they feel they'll be having sex. Even if it's behind their parent's backs.

 

[Draka]

Speaking from second hand experience from a couple of daughters, IUDs seem to have plenty more complications, so I voted no, but I'm a yes for other methods.

I'd be curious as to exactly which IUDs. Paragard is notorious for issues. I had horrible issues with it myself. Namely because, as it turns out, I'm allergic to copper.

There are slight risks of perforation during insertion, however if the gynecologist is experienced with IUDs and takes precautions to relax their patient this will greatly lower the risk.

The pill has a much higher dose of hormones that one must deal with and it affects the entire body, whereas the IUD only affects the uterus and has minimal hormones. Also, as I said, one can forget the pill and that can cause a glitch in the cycle making impregnation possible.

 

[Draka]

Another benefit to the progesterone IUD is the lessening of the period itself. Cramping and flow are often reduced, and in a few cases pretty much disappear entirely. This can be a boon for one dealing with harsh cramping and heavy periods. Something not quite so uncommon for teenage girls.

 

[ZooGirl02]

I am strongly against this. For one thing, I believe that it will increase promiscuity and fornication among teenagers. For another thing, I think it would give them a false sense of security which would make them more likely to engage in unsafe sexual activities which would result in an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. Also, IUDs and other birth control devices do have risks such as uterine perforation. I would imagine, but I am not certain, that such risks would be even higher among young girls.