Health
Services offers array of birth control
By Angela O’Brien
Contributing Writer
Online Forty-Niner
Cal State Long Beach Student Health Services offer a variety of contraceptive
options to students at low cost.
Condoms are available at Student Health Services starting at $2 for a basic 12
pack and range in price up to $8 for a 6 pack of non-latex condoms.
The female condom, or diaphragm, is offered as well. This form of contraceptive
must be fitted at a gynecological exam and once prescribed by a doctor, must
always be used with spermicide. Diaphragms are approximately $25.
The Health Resource Center inside Student Health Services has safe sex packets
available to students on tight budgets. These packets include two condoms and
a lubricant pillow, as well as instructions on how to use contraceptives properly.
The Health Resource Center offers a free two-hour sexual health awareness workshop
every Monday and Tuesday at 2 p.m. The workshop covers topics such as birth control
methods, sexually transmitted infections, HIV and AIDS, and safer sex tips.
“
[Its] purpose is to educate and empower students about birth control
choices,” said Heidi Burkey, health education assistant.
The workshop is open to all students, but is required for females who plan to
go through Student Health Services to get hormonal birth control for the first
time in their lives. The available methods of hormonal birth control include
the pill, vaginal ring and Depo Provera.
The pill and vaginal ring release hormones into the body to prevent eggs from
leaving the ovaries. The vaginal ring by Nuva Ring is a flexible ring inserted
into the vagina which can be worn or removed during sex. Nuva Ring runs for about
$4 a month.
The pill is taken orally and ranges in price from $2.20 to $16.25. Currently
the prices for generic prescriptions are cheaper than the name brands. Ortho
Tri-Cyclen Lo is the most popular oral contraceptive sold at Student Health Services,
Burkey said.
Depo Provera is available for $50.90 and works similarly to the pill and vaginal
ring, but it is a shot of artificial hormones, which lasts up to three months.
Plan B emergency contraceptive, also known as the morning after pill, is also
available at the center for those in urgent situations.
The patch method of birth control is not available at the Student Health Services
currently. FDA put out a warning stating the
patch may cause cardiovascular problems in women.
“
[The warning] was enough for all pharmacies on [the] 24 CSU campuses
to not sell [the patch],” Burkey said.
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