Weight no bar to contraception

Wednesday August 18th, 2010

Contraceptive pills are just as effective for overweight women as others, according to a new study published yesterday.

Researchers from New York, USA, used ultra-sound scanning to test whether the pill was working for women.

They say their research gives the lie to other studies suggesting the pill may fail when women are obese or overweight.

These had depended on women reporting their weight at the time the pill failed.

More than 200 women volunteered to take part in the new research, taking the pill for up to four months before being examined.

Researchers then used ultrasound and blood tests to establish whether the pill was preventing ovulation - and pregnancy.

Reporting in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, the researchers report the pill failing on four women - three of them of normal weight. They said the most likely reason for failure was that women failed to take the pill regularly.

Researcher Professor Carolyn Westhoff, of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, said: "Our findings strengthen the message to patients that the pill will only work if it is taken every day.

"Weight does not seem to have an impact on suppression of ovulation, but consistency of pill-taking does."

Obstetrics & Gynecology August 2010

Tags: North America | Pharmaceuticals | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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