Teen sex: More use rhythm method for birth control

ATLANTA — A growing number of teen girls say they use the rhythm method for birth control, and more teens also think it's OK for an unmarried female to have a baby, according to a government survey released Wednesday.

The report may help explain why the teen pregnancy rate is no longer dropping like it was. Overall, teenage use of birth control and teen attitudes toward pregnancy have remained about the same since a similar survey was done in 2002. But there were some notable exceptions in the new survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 17 percent of sexually experienced teen girls say they had used the rhythm method — timing their sex to avoid fertile days to prevent getting pregnant. That's up from 11 percent in 2002.

They may have been using another form of birth control at the same time. But the increase is considered worrisome because the rhythm method doesn't work about 25 percent of the time, said Joyce Abma, the report's lead author. She's a social scientist at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

The survey results were based on face-to-face interviews with nearly 2,800 teens ages 15 through 19 at their homes in the years 2006 through 2008. Trained female interviewers asked the questions.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jPPm0cCK5hgUvEP_FIhzjToekRdwD9G3BHA80

religious roulette. Baby maybe.

and it explained either a large number of children or a rush to get the pill as soon as it came out.

Most Catholics I know are sensible people and are in the latter group.

6 kids in 8 years.
pope was happy

Mommy.

:hi:

with us... 2 children later and we were finished with that method LOL...

No pun intended.

au naturale! even with the risks.

ya know?

ya know?

I also hope that the women you want to sleep with (who don't care to contract HPV, chlamydia, or even HIV,) are smart enough to avoid someone who obviously is more interested in his own pleasure than their safety.

:eyes:

not that its any of your business. ;)

Good luck with that.

:eyes:

But you could also get hit by lightning at any moment... Are you wearing protective lighting rods?

How many people do you know that died from complications of AIDS, for instance? How many family members have you lost?

I used to work for a home health care company. I stopped counting at twenty co-workers and friends we lost. We also lost two family members to complications of AIDS.

Only an idiot would stand outside wearing chainmail in a lightning storm. Then again, why should I give a shit? You sure don't.

My brother died that way. Mocking lightning deaths.

I can die happy now.

:woohoo:

although he did not die. My point is, which apparently flew right over the top, is that in some situations we dont need to fret it. Peace.

Alright, at risk of getting the thread locked, if you really really hate condoms, what's wrong with oral and manual? That's natural too. Also, anal, which still carries some risk of pregnancy if done with a fertile woman, but less so than PIV--which is only one form of sex out of so many possibilities.

For that matter, what's wrong with same-gender sex? That's natural too and carries no pregnancy risk at all.

"Oh dear God please please PLEASE don't let me be pregnant".

...help me to sin without conceiving!"

This is just another example of why comprehensive, factual birth control information needs to be made available to young women.

And ineffective. Condoms along with some form of female birth control are the way to go.

Agreeing with that statement is not a sign of irresponsibility or immaturity. I find it offensive as HELL that this poll seems to be attempting to connect a rise in the acceptance of single motherhood with a rise in teen pregnancy. The problem with teen pregnancy is not that these girls are unmarried--it's that they're TEENS. Married or unmarried, teenage parents are not a good idea.

I don't intend to tell my son that it's best to wait for marriage. I'm going to tell him that it's best to wait for ADULTHOOD, and that if something happens on the spur of the moment, to make sure he always has protection. I will tell my future daughter (I hope!) the same thing. Being married is not the most important thing in order to be a successful parent. The MOST important thing is getting an education and a really good job.

If I were forced to place a bet on how well someone's kids were going to turn out, and my choices were between a single parent with a professional career and a married, 19-year-old couple? I'd bet on the single parent every time.

the child after receiving a college degree?

I think there is a big distinction in the two. The 19-yr old couple may have a better chance than a 19-yr old single parent. Your thoughts?

... more so related to fun and/or experimentation as opposed to BC, which isn't necessarily surprising...but what was interesting was - and there were articles on this - how the US media refused to 'report' on it since it's too 'icky' a subject for Uptight Squeamish America.

with music blasting in the same room... but seriously I don't think many teenagers have the discipline to use this method effectively.

it's knowing your body better than someone who's only a couple years past menarche would, knowing the exact procedure for doing this, and hoping like hell you don't ovulate a couple days earlier this month than normal.

Besides, how many teenage girls know how to explain why they own a thermometer--an essential tool if you're going to use the rhythm method. Then again, I guess a thermometer would be slightly easier to explain away than a pack of BC pills.

By any name, it does not work. I know several people who resulted from VR. Spoke to one about it only today, and she still has unresolved issues about being, in essence, an unwanted child.

there once were plenty of family planning clinics where birth control could be readily obtained. Now, the anti-abortion fantasists have scared many from visiting these clinics--assuming they know about them to begin with...

Oh wait.....

I mean, she's only had the one, right?

The article doesn't say anything about a rise in teen pregnancy, just that the rate isn't dropping as fast. Then, they just toss off that some (a few, many, most?) used the rhythm method WITH another form of birth control. So, maybe kids are being responsible and using condoms, but because they don't trust them 100% they abstain during likely fertile days? Also, asking if you ever used the rhythm method is a far cry from asking if you always rely on the rhythm method.

Because there has been a consistent push by the conservatives to scare kids into abstinance by highlighting the slight but real chances of condom failure, we're freaking that some teens are being extra cautious? Now, if and when figures show that teen pregnancy rates are climbing again, then I'll consider freaking out.

I seem to remember reading once that teenage girls don't typically have the most reliable menstrual cycles, which makes practicing the "rhythm method" even more insane.

IMHO, YMMV.

And ovulation doesn't always happen during the first few years of the menstrual cycle.

he, I know that Barry White on the turntable worked for me when I was in my teens :)

and they prevent HIV spread.

This kind of stuff just makes me crazy.

It's not just the partner. It's everyone you ever slept with and everyone THEY ever slept with, too. It's still possible to die from AIDS, and the infection rate is up, too.

...on various things in my life. This did NOT include unsafe sex or driving while under the influence, 'K? :hide:

In my PERSONAL experience and observation, this has AT BEST a 50% success rate.

I want better odds on something that's gonna involve other humans...be they merely potential or already alive and present.
YMMV

(Do I need to use this? :sarcasm: If so, here it is.)

And I apologize if you thought my comments were directed towards you. I'm still reeling from someone's comments above.

Friends?

:hug:

:hi:

Didn't think the comments were directed toward me a-tall BTW...
just chiming in unasked (as usual :P )

:hug:

Frankly I'm amazed I didn't catch something or get a girl pregnant.

Protection or nothing nowadays.

Not much chance of the morality police pointing that out, though. :D

Teaching that while condoms can fail, they are the best protection besides abstinence to prevent both pregnancy and STDs. While the Pill will prevent pregnancy, as will anal intercourse (unless you have leakage, which I suppose could theoretically cause pregnancy), neither do squat in preventing STDs.

And hell, even a condom won't protect against all STDs. But it's a hell of a lot better than nothing.

Signed,
the daughter of an AIDS patient who lost her father in July

Baptist ministers!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That's what Mom told me, anyway! :D

The woman puts it between her knees and keeps it there all night.

Sorry, old joke from the priest in my Catholic high school.

as simply "pulling out?"

I've seen way too many cases where she expects her parents--or grandparents, in one case I know of--to support the kids AND her.

In RL, if a single woman, especially a teen, has a child(ren) she is also quite likely to be poor.

Wow.

My wife & I have been using the "Natural Family Planning" (NFP) method since we were dating in college.
Rhythm is part of it, but it also involves daily tracking of internal body temperatures and mucous viscosity over the course of the month.

It's said to be extremely accurate, and has been so far. Two years ago when we decided we wanted to try to conceive our first kid, we used the NFP method to determine the best fertility day (instead of non-fertile days like usual) - and it worked right away. Same for our second, which we are now expecting in late November.

Maybe you and your wife are religious about it, but I doubt most teenagers put that much thought, and attention, to it. Now that I think about it, I doubt most adults would be as disciplined about it as you and your wife. Frankly, I think that this is a last resort for kids who haven't been taught about contraception.

Edited to add: There were a lot of rumors about how to avoid pregnancy when I was a teenager in the late 80's. I remember hearing that you couldn't get pregnant the first time, you couldn't get pregnant if you did jumping jacks immediately afterwards (naked jumping jacks, by the way, are a great way to get a teenage boy excited), you can't get pregnant if you're on top, you can't get pregnant if you douche with coke, and if you miss one of these sure-fire half-assed contraceptive tricks, then find someone whose mom uses the pill and take three or four of them all at once and that will bring on your period and no one can be pregnant if they have their period.

The time I was prescribed the MAP it was a pack of birth control pills, and I was supposed to take 4 right away and 4 in 12 hours. This was before Plan B was marketed I believe.

think they're immortal - you know, the other risk-taking behaviors that we all fear teens taking to.

Somehow, despite the facts, these young women have convinced themselves they don't need to worry about pregnancy. Too many will learn the hard way, I'm afraid.