--- title: More Women Are Opting For Long-Acting Birth Control description: New national data show the percentage of U.S. women using birth control who reported using LARC increased to 11.6% in 2011-2013. canonical: https://time.com/4104923/contraceptives-long-acting-birth-control/ copyright: © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. terms: https://legal.time.com/terms-of-service/ license_contact: syndication@time.com author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-10T15:16:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:39:51.098Z article:section: Health og:title: More Women Are Choosing Long-Acting Birth Control og:description: New national data show the percentage of U.S. women using birth control who reported using LARC increased to 11.6% in 2011-2013. og:url: https://time.com/4104923/contraceptives-long-acting-birth-control/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfffc9dffd9430b02/69877df65f570f94ccb1521e/iud.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: IUD birthcontrol og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: More Women Are Choosing Long-Acting Birth Control twitter:description: New national data show the percentage of U.S. women using birth control who reported using LARC increased to 11.6% in 2011-2013. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfffc9dffd9430b02/69877df65f570f94ccb1521e/iud.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # More Women Are Choosing Long-Acting Birth Control > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=e275f50e-74c4-4bc0-acdc-816323b71342&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## 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 Nov 10, 2015 3:16 PM UTC 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 Nov 10, 2015 3:16 PM UTC Of American women who use birth control, the number who choose to use long-acting versions like the intrauterine device (IUD) or implant has significantly increased, [according to a new federal report](http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr086.pdf). New data from the National Center for Health Statistics show that 11.6% of women who used birth control in the U.S. in 2011-2013 chose long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC)—almost double the rate in 2006-2010, when 6% of women using birth control chose these methods. In 2002, the rate was 2%. Among women using LARC in the most recent report, 10.3% reported using an IUD and 1.3% used an implant. Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) are highly effective and low maintenance. The failure rate for these methods is around 0.8% for the IUD and 0.05% for the implant—compared to 9% for the pill and 18% for the male condom. The most popular birth control method in 2011-2013 remained the pill at 26% and female sterilization at 25%. The male condom came in at 15%. **MORE:** [The Second-Most Popular Form Of Birth Control Will Surprise You](http://time.com/3629748/contraceptives-birth-control-pill/) The researchers point out that although practically all sexually active women in the U.S. have used contraception at some point, not everyone uses birth control consistently or correctly. LARC methods don’t require action by the user once inserted, the authors point out (though they don’t protect against sexually transmitted infections.) One of the reasons LARC methods haven’t been as popular as other modes of contraception in the United States is due to flawed versions in 1970s that resulted in brands pulled from the market, as [TIME previously reported](http://time.com/the-best-form-of-birth-control-is-the-one-no-one-is-using/). Today’s versions are considered safe and effective. LARC has also been expensive compared to some other methods, costing as much as $900 for uninsured women. But contraceptive coverage in the Affordable Care Act has made the IUD less expensive for women, [reports](https://www.guttmacher.org/about/index.html) the non-profit research group Guttmacher Institute. **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/) The researchers who conducted the new study note that a woman’s choice of birth control method can change over time due to availability and changes in societal fertility patterns. The report authors point out that women are having their first child later in life, and there’s a rise in the number of women having their first child after age 35\. “This suggests potential changes over time in the use of contraception by age as first births are delayed,” they write. ## 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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