HARVARD EDUCATION COURSES

  Answers to key questions about the over-the-counter birth control pill approved by the FDA. March 21, 2024 By  Candice Mazon, MD , Contributor, and  Amy Desrochers DiVasta, MD, MMSc , Contributor Birth control pills have been safely used in the US (and sold only by prescription) for more than half a century. In 2023  the FDA approved Opill , the first daily contraceptive pill intended for sale over the counter with no prescription needed. This offers many more people access to a new nonprescription option for preventing pregnancy. Opill is available online and soon to be stocked on drugstore shelves. Here's what anyone interested — adults, parents, and teens — should know. What is in Opill and how does it work? Opill is a progestin-only form of birth control. That means it uses a single hormone called progestin (or norgestrel) to prevent pregnancy. It works by affecting ovulation so that the ovaries do not release an egg every month thickening cervical mucus, which...

  New laws and lawsuits threaten safe, effective care for miscarriage in the US. April 14, 2023 By  Sara Neill, MD, MPH , Contributor, and  Scott Shainker, DO, MS , Contributor When you first learned the facts about pregnancy — from a parent, perhaps, or a friend — you probably didn't learn that up to one in three ends in a miscarriage. What causes miscarriage? How is it treated? And why is appropriate health care for miscarriage under scrutiny — and in some parts of the US, getting harder to find? What is miscarriage? Many people who come to us for care are excited and hopeful about building their families. It's devastating when a hoped-for pregnancy ends early. Miscarriage is a catch-all term for a pregnancy loss before 20 weeks, counting from the first day of the last menstrual period. Miscarriage happens in as many as one in three pregnancies, although the risk gradually decreases as pregnancy progresses. By 20 weeks, it occurs in fewer than one in 100 pregnancies. Wh...