Posted by Ruben on ContraceptionBlog.com, the official blog of the No Room for Contraception Campaign.

After being off of the market since 1995, the Today (r) Sponge contraceptive was reintroduced this past May.

A recent press release announcing a new marketing effort for the contraceptive paints a rosy picture of the effectiveness of this method.

The Today(r) Sponge is safe, effective and has been used by millions of women. In clinical trials, the Today(r) Sponge has proven to be 89% - 91% effective in preventing pregnancy with no serious adverse events reported in over 1800 Today(r) Sponge users(1).

Yet this press release doesn't tell the whole story. The 89% - 91% figures are for perfect use, and do not reflect real world ("typical") failure rates. For women who haven't given birth, sponge contraceptives have a "typical" failure rate of up to 16%, and for women who have, the failure rate is as high as 32% (Hatcher et al., 2000)

If this contraceptive becomes popular among younger, unmarried women, it is highly probable that their pregnancy rates will rise- especially if it is adopted by poor, cohabitating teens. This group already has a terrible track record with the pill and condoms, methods with lower typical failure rates.

Source:

Hatcher, R, et. al, Contraceptive Technology, 18th Revised Edition, Ardent Media, Inc, New York 2004.