There are many sources of information about birth control and how it works — but a trusted website referred by a well-known reproductive health organization, government office, or health policy group is likely to be a more accurate source than word-of-mouth or some website you’ve never heard of. Below are several sources that will give you trustworthy information about every form of birth control and how you can obtain it:
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
ACOG is an association of obstetrician-gynecologists (ob-gyns) and other women’s healthcare professionals. The organization provides education and resources for patients on a variety of contraception topics, including:
- Sterilization for women and men
- Injections
- Barrier methods of contraception
- Natural family planning
- Sterilization by laparoscopy
- Postpartum sterilization
- Emergency contraception
- Birth control pill, patch, and ring
- Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC): IUD and implant
American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM)
ASRM is a professional association devoted to advancing knowledge and expertise in reproductive medicine and biology. ASRM offers a tool to find a health professional by area of specialization or location, as well as fact sheets on topics such as nonhormonal contraception options
Bedsider Birth Control Support Network
This is a visual, interactive guide on birth control and where to get it. It allows you to compare choices side by side, gives video testimony from users, and provides a sense of costs, success rates, and more. It even lets you see if you can get birth control delivered to your door.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Find details about the effectiveness of various birth control methods on this government site.
Reproductive Health National Training Center
An easy-to-read guide to birth control that ranks the methods according to effectiveness, and includes information on side effects.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Go here for consumer information about different types of contraception.
An organization that aims to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights, Guttmacher Institute offers detailed info, like fact sheets on contraceptive use in the United States, including who uses contraceptives and what methods they use.
This FAQ and fact sheet on birth control comes from a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Information about contraception, from another division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
These web pages, from a leader in health policy and health journalism, list contraception benefits policies by state, as well as how state and federal insurance policies cover contraception, and the implications for women and employers.
Produced by the National Library of Medicine and considered the world’s largest health library, MedlinePlus provides information from the National Institutes of Health about a variety of birth control topics.
This organization is a trusted resource about cancer research, and the website offers information on oral contraceptives and cancer risk.
A guide to all forms of birth control, including each method’s pros and cons, safety considerations, and a link to find the nearest Planned Parenthood healthcare clinic based on your ZIP code.
A nonprofit whose aim is to end unplanned pregnancy. This site includes a variety of useful resources, including a list of contraceptive deserts in the United States.
Reproductive Health Access Project
This fact sheet charts different birth control choices by how effective they are, and lists common side effects.
This site's features include a long, detailed list of information on different methods of contraceptives for teens. It also has information on STDs and sexual rights.
Books and Online Sources About Birth Control History, Politics
- A History of the Birth Control Movement in America by Peter C. Engelman
- The Morning After: A History of Emergency Contraception in the United States by Heather Munro Prescott
- The Birth Control Movement and American Society: From Private Vice to Public Virtue by James Reed
- Pregnancy and Power: A Short History of Reproductive Politics in America by Rickie Solinger
- Reproductive Rights and the State: Getting the Birth Control, RU-486, Morning-after Pills and the Gardasil Vaccine to the U.S. Market by Melissa Haussman
- The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution by Jonathan Elg
- Devices and Desires: A History of Contraceptives In America by Andrea Tone
- Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Book Collective and Judy Norsigian
- International Planned Parenthood Federation
- NARAL Pro-Choice America (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League)
- Alexander Sanger’s website
- Taking Charge Of Your Fertility
Reproductive Health and Rights Nonprofits
- Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH)
- Advocates for Youth
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- Center for Reproductive Rights
- Forward Together
- Ibis Reproductive Health
- If/When/How Lawyering for Reproductive Justice
- Ipas
- Medical Students for Choice
- National Abortion Federation
- National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW)
- National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
- National Network of Abortion Funds
- National Women’s Health Network (NWHN)
- National Women's Law Center (NWLC)
- Reproductive Health Technologies Project
- Rewire News Group
- SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
- URGE Unite For Reproductive & Gender Equity
Additional reporting by Deniz Sahinturk.