Good news about increased IUD use in the US

Here at EngenderHealth, we are encouraged by the recent news that IUD is an increasingly popular contraceptive method in the United States. We know through our work in the field that when correct information about the device and high quality health services are offered, the IUD is a safe, effective, and acceptable form of family planning.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the results of its National Survey of Family Growth. The results of the survey, which was conducted from 2006 to 2008, show that IUD use in the US increased from 2 percent in 2002 to 5.5 percent in 2006-2008. Among women with two or more children, the increase was even greater, from 3 to 11 percent. There are now more than 2 million women using IUDs in this country.

As a long-acting contraceptive method, the IUD is one of the most effective forms of birth control. It can be used for medium and long-term planning, preventing pregnancy for up to 12 years, and is reversible.

From 2006-2008, during the same time period as the family growth survey was being conducted U.S., EngenderHealth’s ACQUIRE Project team worked with Kenya’s Ministry of Health to expand IUD use in the country’s Kisii District. In the East African country, as in the U.S., the number of women using an IUD to prevent pregnancy dropped significantly in the past two decades.

In Kisii, EngenderHealth worked with local partners to ensure this convenient and low-cost contraceptive method was more widely available and accepted by improving family planning counseling so Kenyan women could make informed choices and by providing trainings in IUD insertion and removal. In just one year, IUD use in Kisii District tripled.

Read more about how the IUD is saving lives in Ghana in this recent article by EngenderHealth’s Medical Director, Dr. Roy Jacobstein.