Last Friday the New York Times published an article focusing on the potential health concerns of using two popular oral contraceptives, Yaz and Yasmin. While this information is certainly important and the risks of serious side effects including blood clots and stroke should absolutely be considered when thinking about what type of contraception to use, the article failed to discuss the risk of health issues during pregnancy. Studies have found that 4 to 5 per 100,000 reproductive age women who are not taking birth control pills will develop thrombosis. Among women taking low-dose birth control pills that risk increases to 12 to 20 per 100,000. Among pregnant women the risk is even higher--48 to 60 per 100,000. So when we hear about the increased risks of serious side effects such as blood clots and strokes we need to ask ourselves: "Compared to what?"

In addition to providing us with the scary news, I wish there were more articles about the women, men and families who are thankful for reliable birth control methods such as the pill. A recent report from the Guttmacher Institute found that nearly half of women reported that they wanted to reduce or delay their childbearing because of economic concerns--clearly family planning is as important as ever.

There are lots of other great methods of birth control available, but like anything in life there are trade-offs for each one, and we all have to find the one that fits us best (check out our Birth Control 101 page for more information). While most methods have side effects (and these should be discussed with your doctor), consider the potential alternative--an unplanned pregnancy.

Why do we expect so much more from our birth control pills than from other medications we take?

Why are so many young women still getting pregnant when they didn't intend to? Is it that they don't know enough about how pregnancy happens? Or how to use birth control? Or, are they using birth control sometimes, and thinking that's as good as using it every time? Or that they want to know more but are too embarassed to ask? Or that it just won't happen to them? Turns out, the answer is all of the above, and more.

Check out this great article in the current issue of Self Magazine: "Single, Pregnant and Panicked."

It includes findings from some Campaign polling and focus groups that shed light on what single 20-somethings really think—and what they still don't know—about pregnancy and birth control. The findings are pretty shocking.

Check out the full survey.

Here's some of what we learned:

• 54% of sexually active (but not monogamous) single 20-somethings don't use birth control every time.


• While nearly half of our survey respondents said they don't look for information about preventing pregnancy because they already know enough about it, we found that 50% of those women surveyed don't know at what point in their cycle they are most likely to get pregnant, and 23% of women we surveyed think that taking birth control pills increases the risk of getting all types of cancers (NOT true!).


• 21% said finding the right source of information on pregnancy prevention is too hard.


• 21% of young adult women said they don't seek out information about birth control and pregnancy prevention because it's too embarrassing to talk about.


• 67% of our respondents (male and female) say they know nothing about IUDs, which the medical community considers the most effective form of long-acting contraception.


• 16% of young adult men say they only use contraception if their partners insist on it.

Many who are taking chances with their birth control say that if pregnancy hasn't happened yet, it probably won't...that's the most magical thinking of all.

Go to self.com to read the article and take the pregnancy quiz that nearly 1,000 women have already failed.  And don't forget to tell us what you think.