--- title: Birth Control: American Women Are Coming Around to IUDs and Implants description: American women are increasingly opting for longer-lasting, lower-maintenance and highly effective forms of birth control, new data says canonical: https://time.com/3719120/iuds-are-getting-more-popular-with-american-women/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-24T05:01:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:51.181Z article:section: Health og:title: IUDs Are Getting More Popular With American Women og:description: American women are increasingly opting for longer-lasting, lower-maintenance and highly effective forms of birth control, new data says og:url: https://time.com/3719120/iuds-are-getting-more-popular-with-american-women/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1424942dbdbca37/6987809d2dce01a3e49ddb33/149321478-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4992 og:image:height: 2808 og:image:alt: 149321478 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: IUDs Are Getting More Popular With American Women twitter:description: American women are increasingly opting for longer-lasting, lower-maintenance and highly effective forms of birth control, new data says twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1424942dbdbca37/6987809d2dce01a3e49ddb33/149321478-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # IUDs Are Getting More Popular With American Women > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: The History of Birth Control [Watch (HLS stream): The History of Birth Control](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4oCau3Jn.m3u8) (3:12)  _Published 2015-01-22. For as long as men and women have been having children, they’ve been trying to figure out how not to. Artifacts dating back to ancient times have shown that contraceptives have been used for thousands of years._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 24, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Vaginal ring, intra-uterine device, contraceptive implant and pills Vaginal ring, intra-uterine device, contraceptive implant and pills Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 24, 2015 5:01 AM UTC American women are increasingly opting for longer-lasting and highly effective forms of birth control, according to [new federal data](http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs.htm) released on Tuesday. New numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) show women are choosing long-lasting reversible contraceptives (LARC) like the intrauterine device (IUD) and the implant more than they have in the past. According to the numbers, IUD use increased 83% from 2006–2010 to 2011–2013 and implants tripled in use during the same time period. Both methods are approximately 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. “I am delighted LARC use is rising. It’s terrific and I would like to see even more,” saysDr. Mary Jane Minkin, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the Yale School of Medicine. Overall, the use of LARC has increased fivefold in the past decade among women between the ages of 15 to 44, though overall usage remains low. Use spiked from 1.5% in 2002 to 7.2% in between 2011 and 2013\. Women ages 25 to 34 are the most likely to choose LARC at 11% compared with 5% of women ages 15 to 24 and around 5.3% of women ages 35 to 44. As [TIME previously reported](http://time.com/the-best-form-of-birth-control-is-the-one-no-one-is-using/), one reason for the slow uptake among American women is that older versions of the IUDs from the 1970s and ’80s were plagued with problems. The new CDC data shows that LARC use declined between 1982 and 1988 and remained stable from 1988 to 1995\. Today, IUDs are considered very safe and effective. Planned Parenthood told TIME it has experienced a 75% increase in IUD use among its patients since 2008. “I think the current generation of women haven’t heard about the errors of the past, which is good,” says Minkin. “They are looking anew at LARC and looking at them for the value they have. People can forget their pills. These other methods take the human variable out of it, and they work very nicely.” (Minkin was not involved in the new study.) **MORE:** [Why the Best Form of Birth Control Is the One No One Is Using](http://time.com/the-best-form-of-birth-control-is-the-one-no-one-is-using/) New, separate data [published](http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2015.02.005) Monday in the journal _Contraception_ showed that among 500 female health care providers, 42% used LARC, which is significantly higher than the general population. Women in other countries are significantly more likely to use LARC, especially the IUD. Separate [research](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/j.fertnstert.2012.06.027.pdf) has shown that 23% of French women using contraception use an IUD as well as 27% of Norwegian women and 41% of women in China. In the U.S., cost may be a factor: the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health nonprofit, reports that their [research](http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2014/09/18/index.html) shows sharp increases in the numbers of women who don’t have to pay out of pocket for LARC thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Without insurance coverage, LARC can be prohibitively expensive for some — around $900 for an IUD, for instance. “If you have contraceptive coverage that makes it much more doable,” says Minkin, “I think it increases the availability and viability for women.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] For as long as men and women have been having children, they've been trying to figure out how not to. Artifacts dating back to ancient times have shown that contraceptives have been used for thousands of years. Unsurprisingly, not every method was all that effective. In ancient China, concubines would drink a cocktail of lead and mercury. Unfortunately, the side effects included sterility, brain damage. Kidney failure and death. Ancient Egyptian women would mix honey, sodium carbonate, and crocodile dung into a thick paste they would insert into themselves before having sex. In Greece in the year 200 a gynecologist named Soranus. Advised women to hold their breathe during intercourse and sneeze afterward. [ SNEEZE ] And in the Middle Ages in Europe, women believed tying weasel testicles to their thighs or around their necks during sex would prevent pregnancy. Huh? But it wasn't all a shot in the dark. Many modern forms of contraception have roots in the ancient past. For example, ancient cave drawings found in France appear to show an early version of the condom and a prototype of the cervical cap has been used since Casanova's days. In his memoirs written in the 18th century he describes using partially squeezed lemon halves to do the trick. [ MUSIC ] The modern history of not having babies begins in the mid 1800's. When vulcanized rubber was patented and condoms could be mass produced. [ MUSIC ] Yet for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries women had a hard time getting their hands on effective contraception. Contraception. Anti- obscenity laws in the US restricted anyone, including doctors, from spreading information about it. But that didn't stop women from trying to prevent pregnancy. Many women would use household products, such as Lysol or Coca- Cola, which they believed would kill sperm. [ MUSIC ] Advertisements for Lysol even endorsed the product as a way for women to protect their married happiness. All of that changed in 1960 when the FDA approved an oral contraceptive pill thanks to the tireless efforts of activist Margaret Sanger. And a team of doctors. Within five years millions of American women had prescriptions for the pill. In the following decades other forms of reliable contraception appeared, including IUD's. Safe and effective birth control still isn't a universal privilege. A 2013 report found that 222 million women from developing countries around the world. Said they wanted to use birth control but didn't have access to it. But in the US, a whopping 99 % of women of child bearing age say that they've used some form of contraception. No crocodile dung required. 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