Tara Doran knows when she has sex for the first time, she will already be prepared. The sophomore sociology major is not currently on a birth control pill, but plans to use that as her contraceptive of choice when the need arises.
“I would have control over my dosage and everything,” the 20-year-old said. “I’m just not ready to have a kid at all right now.”
Doran is set to join the 11.6 million American women ages 15 to 44 who used oral contraception in 2002, according to research done by the National Center for Health Statistics.
The study found 53 percent of women using contraceptives ages 15 to 24 chose to use some form of birth control pill in 2002. The use of the Pill declined with age.
“I’ve been on [the Pill] on and off for a year and a half,” said a freshman journalism major who declined to give her name.
The freshman said she chooses to take Kariva, a brand of birth control pills. While she has experienced some side effects such as weight gain and fatigue, she remains on the contraceptive.
According to the Feminist Women’s Health Center, side effects when taking birth control pills typically include irregular bleeding or spotting, nausea, breast tenderness, weight gain and/or water retention, spotty darkening of the skin and mood changes.
However, for Carla Reidy, a junior architecture major, the side effects were more severe.
Just weeks after starting to take the Pill her sophomore year, Reidy was admitted to the hospital, having developed a pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot in her lung. She remained in the hospital for five days, entirely on bed rest.
For the rest of her life, Reidy will have to take blood thinners every day.
The Feminist Women’s Health Center cautions women with a history of heart attack or stroke, blood clots, unexplained vaginal bleeding, known or suspected cancer, known or suspected pregnancy or liver disease should not take the Pill.
The Center also warns that if Pill users experience abdominal pain, chest pain or shortness of breath, severe headaches, eye problems or severe leg or arm pain or numbness, they should contact a doctor immediately.
The National Center for Health Statistics also found that the use of the Pill was also directly related to level of education. The study found 42 percent of college graduates ages 22 to 44 who used contraception chose the Pill in 2002. Twenty-eight percent of women who had received some college education and 19 percent of high school graduates on birth control were using the Pill.
“The less money you typically have, it usually affects your education, and people who are less educated aren’t aware of the effects that birth control has and aren’t really aware that not using it is as detrimental as it would be,” said Anne Loos, a middler English major and co-president of the Feminist Student Organization.
Loos has been on birth control pills for a little over a year, and said she has never experienced any side effects.
The study also found the use of birth control, including the Pill, was generally more prevalent in sexually active women who lost their virginity at an older age. Of 14,722 women surveyed who had sex at age 16 or younger, 54.8 percent were on birth control at the time, 12.4 percent on the Pill.
Of 6,690 women surveyed who lost their virginity at age 18, 69 percent used birth control, 20.2 percent on the Pill. Of those who lost their virginity at age 20 or older, 70.1 percent of the 6,309 women surveyed used birth control, 24.7 percent choosing the Pill.
The Pill is 97 to 99.9 percent effective as birth control, according to the Feminist Women’s Health Center. It does not protect against reproductive tract infections, like HIV/AIDS.
– Staff writer Elizabeth Dudek contributed to this report.
