Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: The INFO Project

Your knowledge-sharing resource on family planning and reproductive health

Shopping Basket

Dr. Jim Shelton's Pearls "Pearl" for the week of April 27, 2004

Seven Year Norplant®

I've heard that Norplant® contraceptive implants may actually be effective for longer than 5 years. Is that true?

Yes - 7 years. The WHO Selected Practice Recommendations committee recently reviewed the data and affirmed that Norplant® is effective for 7 years.

However, for the group of women who weigh more than 80 kilograms (176 lbs), the pregnancy rate averaged 2.5% per year in the 6th and 7th year. This is still good effectiveness, though not as good as we generally see with Norplant®. So these heavier women should be counseled accordingly if they wish to keep their implants for those last 2 years.

The "Pearls" offer answers to commonly asked questions about family planning. These "Pearls" are prepared by Dr. James D. Shelton, Senior Medical Scientist, Office of Population, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Disclaimer: The information provided on this web site is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Government or The Johns Hopkins University.