New combined oral contraceptive effective at suppressing ovarian activity

Newer combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs) are in development which are hoped to have fewer side effects and better safety profiles. A Phase 2 clinical efficacy study has compared an experimental estetrol and drospirenone contraceptive pill with a commercially available ethinylestradiol-drospirenone pill and found similar suppression of ovarian activity. Estetrol, a naturally occurring estrogen, is thought to be less likely to increase thrombotic risk compared with ethinylestradiol; however, further research will be required to determine this, given that thromboembolic events remain rare in CHC users.

Contraception 2021; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2021.03.003

Systemic hormonal contraception use immediately after abortion appears safe

Rapid initiation of effective contraception is recognised as a strategy to improve access to and continuation of contraception following abortion. There is limited high quality evidence to inform timing of initiating these methods particularly those that may require clinician involvement. A systematic review has identified a small number of variable quality randomised controlled trials (RCTs) initiating systemic hormonal contraception following medical and surgical abortion in the first trimester. Due to the size and quality of the studies included, definitive conclusions could not …