Puzzling Over the Hurt Down-Under
Serious Mental Illness and Contraception
New 13-Cycle Vaginal Contraceptive System
The Future of Family Planning in Post-COVID America
New ASCCP Guidelines: Implications for FP
On the alert: mood disorders during 2020 stressors
Challenges old and new during the pandemic
Reproductive health in the time of Covid-19
Missed Pills: The Problem That Hasn’t Gone Away
Find the “yes! . . . and” rather than “no” or “but”
Digital Family Planning: the Future is Now
Irregular Bleeding Due to Contraceptives
Ouch! Best approaches to menstrual pain
Contraceptive efficacy: understanding how user and method characteristics play their part
Strategizing treatment for chronic heavy menstrual bleeding
Untangling the literature on obesity and contraception
High tech apps for no-tech FABM
Menstrual exacerbation of other medical conditions
From Princeton University: Thomas James Trussell (1949-2018)
The Short and Long of IUD Use Duration
Selecting a Method When Guidance Isn’t Clear-cut
Healthcare in the Time of Digital Expansion
The Scoop on Two New FDA-Approved Contraceptive Methods
Pregnancy of unknown location—meeting the challenge
Big “yes” (with caveats) to CHCs during perimenopause
The role of IUDs (LNG IUDs, too!) in emergency contraception
Combined pills’ effect on mood disorders
Abortion in the U.S.: safe, declining, and under threat
Hope for ovarian cancer screening test
Breast cancer still a small risk with some hormonal contraceptives
Record rate of HPV-related throat cancer
Viruses in semen potentially transmissible
Don’t Abstain from Your Role in Abstinence
Teens births declining but geographic ‘hotspots’ defy trend
Online Medical Abortion Service Effective and Safe
Do Women Really Need to Wait That Long?
Reassuring news on depression and OC use
PMDD: Genetic clues may lead to improved treatment
Breast cancer risk when there is a family history
Body weight link to breast and endometrial cancers (and 11 others)
Family Planning in 2017 and Beyond
Make Me Cry: Depression Link (Again)?
Managing implant users’ bleeding and spotting
Zika: Updated guidance for providers
Pharmacist-prescribed contraceptives
Hot off the press! 2016 MEC and SPR
Zika virus fears prompt increased request for abortion in nations outlawing abortions
Opioid use epidemic among reproductive-age women
Good news on the family planning home front!
War Against Planned Parenthood Hurts Women
Win-win for both treatment and prevention
Menopause, mood, mental acuity, and hormone therapy
Emergency contraception for teens
Postpartum Contraception: Now, Not Later
Are we practicing what we preach?
Be alert to VTE in hormonal contraceptive users
LARC among teens increased 15-fold, but not enough
Brain cancer and hormonal contraception
Free tools: Easy access to the US Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use
Alcohol consumption when pregnancy is unwanted or unintended
Latest Data on Contraceptive Use in the United States
LateBreaker sampler from Contraceptive Technology conference
Emergency Contraceptive Pill Efficacy and BMI/Body Weight
Handout on Unintended Pregnancy and Contraceptive Choice
Ask About Withdrawal (Really!)
Rules to Practice By: Safety First and Cleanliness is Close to. . .
What’s Vanity Fair Got Against the NuvaRing?
Promising New Treatment for Hepatitis C
Numbers matter, so make them simple for patients
The Recession’s Effect on Unintended Pregnancies
Lessons Learned from the Contraceptive CHOICE Project: The Hull LARC Initiative
Applying the “New” Cervical Cytology Guidelines in Your Practice
Acute Excessive Uterine Bleeding: New Management Strategies
Medical indications for IUD use in teens

Get copies of the brand new 2016 US Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (MEC) and 2016 US Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use (SPR), along with clinical tools for using them. These updated recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention include new recommendations and new scientific evidence on continuing recommendations. With a soon-to-appear app and currently available reference charts, PDFs, and wheels, providers can have at hand the clinical tools to provide patients with evidence-based care.
Access the recommendations and tools at CDC’s dedicated website page:
- U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 2016
- U.S. Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use, 2016
“Health care providers can use CDC’s evidence-based guidance when offering quality family planning care to their patients, including helping patients choose the most appropriate contraceptive method for individual circumstances and use that method correctly, consistently, and continuously to maximize effectiveness,” said CDC’s Kate Curtis, PhD.
U.S. MEC
What is it?
The US MEC recommends which contraceptive methods may be used safely by women who have medical conditions (such as diabetes, migraines, or depression) or who have relevant health characteristics (such as breastfeeding, recent surgery, or obesity).
Most women can use most contraceptive methods safely, including women who have a medical condition. Some medical conditions can increase the risk of some adverse effects from contraceptive. However, these women face even greater risk of adverse effects associated with pregnancy, so safe and effective contraception is important. Long-acting reversible contraceptives would be appropriate.
What’s new since the 2010 MEC?
- New recommendations for women with the following conditions or characteristics:
- cystic fibrosis
- multiple sclerosis
- using certain psychotropic drugs or St. John’s wort
- Revised recommendations for with the following conditions:
- postpartum;
- breastfeeding;
- known dyslipidemias
- migraine headaches
- superficial venous disease
- gestational trophoblastic disease
- sexually transmitted diseases
- human immunodeficiency virus
- women using antiretroviral therapy
- Revised recommendations for emergency contraception, including the use of ulipristal acetate
MEC Clinical Tools
- App, through iTunes
- PDF of CDC’s MMWR Recommendations and Reports
- Print document of CDC’s MMWR Recommendations and Reports
- Summary chart (Spanish soon)
- Effectiveness charts
- MEC Wheel
U.S. SPR
What is it?
The U.S. SPR addresses issues regarding initiation and use of specific contraceptive methods and management of certain complications. Most women can start most contraceptive methods any time, according to the CDC. Few, if any, examinations or tests are needed prior to initiation of contraception. And after initiation, routine follow-up is not a general requirement. The SPR provides recommendations for managing bleeding irregularities that can be associated with contraceptives, as well as anticipatory counseling regarding the potential for irregular bleeding.
What’s new since the 2013 SPR?
- New recommendations for the use of medications to ease insertion of intrauterine devices and
- Revised recommendations for starting regular contraception after the use of emergency contraceptive pills.
Clinical Tools
- App, through iTunes
- PDF of CDC’s MMWR Recommendations and Reports
- Print document of CDC’s MMWR Recommendations and Reports
- Chart on When to start a given contraceptive method
- Algorithms on What to do if late, missed, delayed combined hormonal contraceptive
- Algorithm on Management IUD in women with PID
—Submitted by Deborah Kowal, MA, PA, President of Contraceptive Technology Communications, Inc.