College Week, Day 2: Why Bedsider Matters on College Campuses
It’s College Week at Bedsider, a chance to highlight the efforts of our amazing campus ambassadors. Today’s “College Week spotlight” is on the always-spunky, super-enthusiastic, basically unstoppable University of Maryland (UMD) ambassadors. This post is by Bedsider UMD ambassador Erin Laird.
Women in universities across the country enter college with a wide variety of plans and dreams for their future. But what happens to those dreams if one steamy night results in not-so-steamy news a few weeks later?
“I would probably have to drop out of school. It would ruin my future plans,” says Apryl Hardee, junior chemistry major at the University of Maryland, in response to being asked how an unplanned pregnancy would change her life. Many college-aged women share this sentiment, myself included. An unplanned pregnancy can dramatically change the course of a women’s life. It can make finishing school very difficult and, by extension, make getting the job you want nearly impossible.
So what’s a girl to do? It’s simple, really. With so many different methods on the market, there is bound to be one that’s right for you. Don’t like hormones? You got it. Want something discrete? No problem. Looking for something that doesn’t interrupt the moment? Done and done. Thanks to Bedsider, you can easily access all the information you need to make smart, sexy decisions in just a few clicks!
And if your school has a Bedsider ambassador program, stop on by one of the events on your campus and talk to your friendly neighborhood Bedsider ambassador! Here at UMD there are four fabulous birth control warriors who are fully armed with birth control know-how and an arsenal of seriously sexy swag. So feel free to stop us anytime (seriously, we love it) to ask questions or just chat about safer sex. Don’t know my name? Just call me “that birth control girl,” and I’ll respond. We get it all the time.
So think about it ladies. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…” Maybe Dr. Seuss wasn’t thinking about birth control, but here at Bedsider, we’ve got one-track minds. We want to help you go wherever it is you’ve decided to go in life.
Do you have your fertility facts straight?
Fertility can be straight-up confusing—and people have all sorts of interesting ideas about it. Check out today’s Frisky Friday to test your fertility savvy.
Think it won’t happen to you? If you’re having sex and not using birth control, you’re basically trying to get pregnant. (And the odds are good you WILL get pregnant, so stick with your method.)
We’re pretty sure you know how babies are made, but this little reminder makes a really good point. Sperm are amazingly determined and birth control is your best friend if you don’t want to have a baby just yet.
It doesn’t matter what position you’re in—reverse cowgirl, missionary, standing, whatever. Sperm + egg + sticking to the uterus = pregnancy.
Method Monday: New Moms (Celebrity and Not) Edition
Congrats to Jessica Simpson on her pregnancy! The pregnancy wasn’t planned, but we’re happy to hear via US Weekly that Simpson is overjoyed nonetheless.
As Korin Miller rightly noted in her coverage of the news for Cosmo, this definitely isn’t the first time a celebrity—or a non-celebrity, for that matter—has unintentionally gotten pregnant again super-soon after having a baby. What we would’ve liked to see in the Cosmo article is a complete rundown of which birth control options are safe for new moms besides “perfect use” of breastfeeding and the two alternatives mentioned, the mini-pill and condoms. Breastfeeding moms can also safely use the IUD, the implant, and the shot.
Obvious challenges of simultaneously parenting a newborn and a toddler aside, having another pregnancy within 12 months of giving birth can mean health risks for mom and baby. And given the benefits of leaving a bit more time between babies (a.k.a. birth spacing), we’d say the fact that some of the most effective birth control methods are safe for new moms is seriously gossip-worthy. Help us spread the word?
Get educated on sperm!
Interesting information!
*not all men have penis/can produce sperm
That’s right, folks—sperm move faster than a jaguar and can live in the female reproductive tract for up to 5 days… This is why we keep going on and on about birth control.
(via rhodessexperts)
The Magical Powers of Semen...
New research on β-NGF, a protein found in semen, suggests that it may be able to trigger ovulation. Scary or fascinating?
Today is Global Female Condom Day!
The first-ever Global Female Condom Day “aims to increase the number of women, men, transpeople and youth around the world who know about, use, and advocate for female condoms.” Why? Because female condoms, also called internal condoms, offer protection against both STIs and pregnancy—and they can be controlled by a woman (or receptive partner).
Kudos to the National Female Condom Coalition for their hard work to spread the word about this excellent, oft-misunderstood method. Want to learn more about the female condom? We’ve got a Method Monday about it and more Real Stories (like the one above) from folks who use it and love it.
Will hormones in the pill affect the results of a pregnancy test?
Someone asked us:If I am on the pill, and I had to take a pregnancy test, would the hormones in the pill affect the result of the test?
Nope — pregnancy tests are 99 percent accurate, whether or not you’re on the pill or any other form of birth control. The hormone that a pregnancy test detects in your urine is called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and it’s only produced during pregnancy. It’s not found in hormonal birth control (which contains the hormones progestin and estrogen).
Taking a pregnancy test correctly usually means waiting to take it after your missed period, although some brands can be taken a few days before. You can read the label on the box to see when it becomes effective.
-Nina at Planned Parenthood
(via gynologues)
