There's been a bit of online chatter recently about ditching hormonal birth control in favor of a return to the more "organic" methods of birth control known as either Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM) or Natural Family Planning (NFP).

Sophie Morris writes a review of Jane Bennett & Alexandra Pope's book, The Pill: Are You Sure It's For You?, in which the authors question why women would use a less-than-perfect method when there are so many potential side effects. Based on her own experience with the pill, Ms. Morris agrees with Bennett and Pope that women should stop viewing it as "the default contraceptive," but she disagrees with them about the best alternative. While they encourage women to return to NFP, Morris feels as though "that remains risky business...if you can't deal with an unplanned pregnancy."  She hasn't figured out the best method for her, but knows there are options more effective than NFP.

Over on double x, in an article titled, Your Grandmother's Birth Control Might Actually Work, Nona Willis Aronowitz explains how she moved to FAMs after experiencing side effects while using the NuvaRing.  Before discovering FAM, she dismissed condoms due to her partner's aversion.  She said no to the diaphragm on account of a history of urinary tract infections. And she brushed off the thought of the oh-so-effective IUD because she didn't like the idea of "an invasive vaginal procedure." Ms. Willis Aronowitz settled on using the most effective FAM, known as the symptothermal method. This includes understanding when she's most fertile (and avoiding intercourse without a barrier method during those times) by measuring her basal body temperature and monitoring the consistency of her cervical mucous on a daily basis, and then charting the data.

What if I told you there was a birth control out there that was 99% effective, didn't require daily maintenance, and wouldn't have the hormonal side effects that you're used to in the Pill?  Yeah.  I'd laugh in my face, too.  Because if such a magical thing existed, we'd be all beating a path to the doctor for a prescription, right?

Wrong.

Meet the IUD (intrauterine device), the simple to use, long-lasting, reversible, hormone-free, economical birth control that's only used by about 2% of American women, despite huge popularity with our European cousins. 

So why are American women missing the boat on this?