Workshop discusses contraception options

A birth control workshop entitled "Contraception Today: Options For a Woman's Future" was held in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge Tuesday evening. Led by Family Planning Service Director Steven Sondheimer, an obstetrics and gynecology professor in the School of Medicine, the discussion was geared toward women who want to explore contraception methods. Approximately twenty women and two men attended the workshop. Most of the participants were Philadelphians interested in birth control options. Sondheimer discussed many safe, reliable and reversible birth control options and their possible side effects. He also described scientifically how each method prevents pregnancy. According to Sondheimer, the most effective, "reversible" contraceptive methods are birth control pills, the copper IUD, the hormonal injection method, and Norplant, a hormonal implant system. He added that less reliable contraceptives include condoms, foam, the sponge, the diaphragm, spermicide, and "Reality," the newly-released female condom. According to a study which was distributed to workshop members, condoms will fail two to 12 of 100 users, while only one in 100 Norplant users will get pregnant. In choosing the "right" contraceptive method, Sondheimer advised that the effectiveness, convenience, side effects, cost, reversibility and protection from sexually transmitted diseases be considered for each form of contraception. Many women who attended the workshop were impressed with Sondheimer's knowledgeability. Rossaine Ricketts, a former University employee, said she thought the workshop was "very informative." "What interested me the most is that I got to see contraceptives that I have never seen before," she said, referring to Sondheimer's use of the contraceptives as visual aids. Deneen Goldstein, a Philadelphia executive, said she thought the workshop was "very beneficial for me in learning about methods of birth control as well as family planning." "I learned a lot about the side effects of spermicide and that douching is not beneficial for a woman's physical health," she said. Goldstein added that Sondheimer "was informative and an effective lecturer." The workshop was sponsored by the Medical Center and GynoPharma, Inc., a pharmaceutical company which caters to women's health care.