Malta – Forty, pregnant, and seeking an abortion

A trend is emerging in Malta among women aged 40 and over, who already have children and who experience unintended pregnancies despite using contraception. The Journal catches up with Doctors for Choice - Malta’s Dr Natalie Psaila.

The Journal
Jan 16, 2024

If you think that unwanted pregnancies are exclusive to teenagers, think again.
“An emerging trend that we’re observing is among individuals aged 40 and over, who already have children, who say that they have used contraception, but still experience unintended pregnancies,” reveals Dr Natalie Psaila, a Maltese doctor who make it to the BBC’s top 100 inspirational women in 2023.

These women confirm using CE certified condoms but, despite these precautions, they still get pregnant, she pointed out. “These condoms shouldn’t fail easily but no contraceptive is fail-proof. This is why these couples are getting pregnant. Condoms have about 10% failure rate. Something like the pull-out method – a favourite with the Maltese – has a 40% failure rate.”

Continued: https://thejournal.mt/forty-pregnant-and-seeking-an-abortion/

USA – Yes, it’s easier to get birth control than it was in the 1970s – but women still need abortion care

January 18, 2022
Emily M. Godfrey

A historic ruling on abortion is likely to emerge from the U.S. Supreme Court this year as justices consider whether Mississippi can, in fact, impose a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, challenges the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that protects women’s right to abortion. Meanwhile, Texas enacted its own restrictive abortion law in September – and other states are working to follow suit.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/yes-its-easier-to-get-birth-control-than-it-was-in-the-1970s-but-women-still-need-abortion-care-174026

18.01.2022

Commentary

Featured

Affordable Care Act

contraceptive failure

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

EUROPE – An app which advises young women whether they can avoid pregnancy based on daily body temperature leads to… young women GETTING PREGNANT!

EUROPE – An app which advises young women whether they can avoid pregnancy based on daily body temperature leads to… young women GETTING PREGNANT!

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
July 27, 2018

A fancy app which was certified as a contraceptive method in Europe by the German medicines agency Tüv Süd, based on its claim to be 93% effective, has been found to be leading to many unintended pregnancies. In January 2018, it was reported for investigation to the Swedish Medical Products Agency after one hospital found 37 cases of pregnancies in women using it among 668 women seeking abortions in a three-month period in late 2017. Described in the 17 January 2018 Guardian in as a “smartphone application that marries hi-tech algorithms with the old-fashioned rhythm method”, these pregnancies should be no surprise. The fact is, no matter how you dress up the rhythm method, it fails – and it fails a lot. That’s why safe, effective contraceptive methods were developed in the second half of the 20th century.

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/europe-an-app-which-advises-young-women-whether-they-can-avoid-pregnancy-based-on-daily-body-temperature-leads-to-young-women-getting-pregnant

‘I felt colossally naive’: the backlash against the birth control app

‘I felt colossally naive’: the backlash against the birth control app
Natural Cycles was hailed as a stress-free, hormone-free contraceptive. Then women began reporting unwanted pregnancies

Olivia Sudjic
Sat 21 Jul 2018

Last summer I had an abortion. Statistically unremarkable, yes, but mine wasn’t because of a split condom or a missed pill. I was four months into a tense relationship with a much-hyped Swedish “digital contraceptive”, a smartphone app called Natural Cycles. I had spent my 20s on the pill, but hated not knowing whether my emotional state was down to artificial hormones or not. My boyfriend and I had been together for eight months, and I was desperately seeking something new, something that wouldn’t make me feel so anxious.

That’s when the adverts started following me around on social media: glowing women reclining in Scandi bedrooms, all pale grey sheets and dappled light, brandishing basal thermometers and telling me how great it felt to “get to know yourself better”. Natural Cycles’ ads promised the “world’s first contraceptive app”, something “natural, hormone free & non-invasive”. I could start using it without a two-week wait for a doctor’s appointment and so, in a fug of hormones and frustration, I bought a subscription. I was sold on shiny promises, a sleek user interface and the fact that a former Cern physicist, Elina Berglund, was at the company’s helm. But four months in, it failed. Berglund helped discover the Higgs boson; but it turns out her algorithm couldn’t map my menstrual cycle.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jul/21/colossally-naive-backlash-birth-control-app