IUDs and implants are the most effective forms of birth control for teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC now recommends health care providers offer it to teen patients.
“Long-acting reversible birth control methods, which include implants and IUDs, are often referred to as goof-proof birth control,” said Brenda Rhodes Miller, the Executive Director of the Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy based in Washington, D.C. She says when teens don’t have to remember to take a daily pill and won’t miss a dosage.
The University of Rochester Medical Center’s Doctor Kate Greenberg quotes the CDC report with optimism—close to 90 percent of teens used birth control the last time they had sex, but less than 5 percent use LARC. “The ideal would be both the condoms and a highly effective contraceptive, to really sort of give full protection.”
“The CDC is actually just adding its voice to a lot of other organizations that have been saying that these long acting contraceptive devices are the most appropriate first-line therapy, even for our youngest teenage patients,” said Greenberg. Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended long-acting reversible contraceptive for sexually active teens.