News/Blog

When Guli Fager started her job as a sexual health educator for university students in Texas, she was shocked to learn how little they knew.  While most students had basic knowledge about contraception, they had minimal understanding of reproductive processes and sexual health issues.  Her concern grew when she realized that not only were the students generally uninformed, they were often misinformed.  She decided to focus on the question, “What is healthy sexual health development?” and how could she convey this question and the answers to the students through programs at the university health center.

Posted in: Education, Womens Health

“It’s birth control, but with a lot of other uses.” - health provider

CycleBeads is an effective birth control option and while preventing pregnancy is the primary use of this family planning tool, health providers have shared a number of other interesting ways it can be used to educate, empower, or simply inform. From helping a woman to achieve a pregnancy to condom counseling, here are a few of the interesting ways that providers are using this family planning tool with their clients:

Posted in: CycleBeads, Fertility Awareness, Natural Birth Control

While unplanned pregnancies among teens in the U.S. is at the lowest rate in years, American teenagers are still getting pregnant at a much higher rate than their counterparts in other countries – 3x more often than teens in Germany and France, and 4x more often than teens in the Netherlands. In 2010, unplanned pregnancies among U.S. teens dropped to 34.3 births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19 according to the most recent health statistics. That’s great news, but it’s still the highest teen pregnancy rate among developed nations.

Posted in: Birth Control Effectiveness, Birth Control Options, Contraceptive Options, International Family Planning, Womens Health

As mentioned in a previous article on family planning in the Philippines, birth control and sex education in this Catholic country can be difficult to come by. To combat this problem, one city started requiring family planning courses for all couples planning to get married. In Marakina City engaged couples attend courses on responsible parenting and go to a health center to discuss their birth control options. There they are offered a full range of family planning options from hormonal methods to natural methods such as the Standard Days Method™ using CycleBeads®. The couples receive their preferred contraceptive option free of charge from the city through donations from the United Nations Population Fund, the Department of Health, and other donors. After the couples are married, Family Health volunteers visit their homes to answer questions and provide support.

The following are just a couple of their stories…

Posted in: Birth Control Options, CycleBeads, International Family Planning, Natural Birth Control, Womens Health

We’ve heard it all… Is this jewelry? Should I wear CycleBeads® around my neck? Are these rosary beads? And even a few responses that aren’t quite fit for print.

So why did we decide to use beads to help women use the Standard Days Method® of family planning?

Posted in: CycleBeads, mHealth, Natural Birth Control, Research, Technology

The number of twins born in the U.S. has grown signficiantly over the last 30 years according to a new CDC report. The reason? Increasing numbers of women waiting to have children until their 30′s and the growing use of fertility treatments.

Posted in: Fertility, Pregnancy, Research, Womens Health

With the holidays here you may be wondering how to keep using your natural family planning method if you are traveling – especially if you’ll be in a new timezone. The answer depends on what type of natural family planning method you are using. Some are very easy to use while traveling, and others can be a little more challenging.

Posted in: CycleBeads, Fertility Awareness, Natural Birth Control

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is joining the Ad Council to debut a groundbreaking, first-ever public service campaign designed to reduce the rates of unplanned pregnancy among unmarried young adults in the U.S. The three-year campaign directs sexually active women ages 18-24 to Bedsider.org, a new comprehensive online and mobile program, to help them find the right birth control method for them and use it carefully and consistently in an effort to prevent unplanned pregnancy.

Posted in: Birth Control Options, Contraceptive Options, Pregnancy, Womens Health

We recently heard from Dr Deirdre Gleeson, the Medical Director of Medwise, Occupational Health Services in Ireland. Dr. Gleeson wrote to us describing her work in Calcutta and her efforts to help empower women living in extremely difficult circumstances. In Dr. Gleeson’s own words…

Posted in: Birth Control Options, CycleBeads, Fertility Awareness, International Family Planning, Natural Birth Control, Womens Health

Believe it or not, college students are often hesitant to talk about their sex lives, but health educators need them to do exactly that in order to provide students with the best health services. We spoke with Katie Garcia, health educator at Vanderbilt University, to find out how she gets students to open up about sexual health issues.

Posted in: Contraceptive Options, Fertility, Fertility Awareness, Interviews with Health Providers, Men and Family Planning, Womens Health