ABSTRACT
As health care providers, we must engage our female patients in a dialogue about their contraceptive and fertility decisions. Empowering and educating our patients about their bodies’ hormones, the menstrual cycle, and the risk of unintended pregnancy are central to effective contraceptive counseling. Selecting an appropriate method for a patient and her medical profile is rewarding and challenging in view of new medications, novel delivery systems, and evolving research.
- Copyright © 2012 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
- Kristi Tough, MD and
- Holly L. Thacker, MD⇑
- Center for Specialized Women’s Health, Cleveland Clinic
- Director, Center for Specialized Women’s Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cleveland Clinic
- Associate Professor, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University
- ADDRESS:
Holly L. Thacker, MD, Center for Specialized Women’s Health, A10, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195; e-mail thackeh{at}ccf.org.
ABSTRACT
As health care providers, we must engage our female patients in a dialogue about their contraceptive and fertility decisions. Empowering and educating our patients about their bodies’ hormones, the menstrual cycle, and the risk of unintended pregnancy are central to effective contraceptive counseling. Selecting an appropriate method for a patient and her medical profile is rewarding and challenging in view of new medications, novel delivery systems, and evolving research.
- Copyright © 2012 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. All Rights Reserved.