Contraception to Prevent Unintended Pregnancy during the Zika Virus Outbreak

Zika virus infection during pregnancy is a cause of a birth defect of the brain called microcephaly and other severe brain defects. Offering family planning services, including information and access to the full range of contraceptive methods is a primary strategy to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies affected by Zika virus infection.

CDC has contraceptive guidance for healthcare providers that may be used when counseling patients about contraceptive choice, how to use contraceptive methods, and how to manage problems with contraceptive use. Information about the guidance, links to more information, and tools to help providers implement the guidance are provided below.

• The US Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (US MEC) focuses on who can safely use specific methods of contraception, and provides recommendations for the safety of contraceptive methods for women with various medical conditions (such as hypertension and diabetes) and characteristics (such as age, parity, and smoking status). Several US MEC provider tools are available to help implement the US MEC.
• The Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use (US SPR) provides guidance on how contraceptive methods can be used and how to remove unnecessary barriers for patients to successfully use contraceptive methods. Several provider tools are available to help implement the US SPR.
• Providing Quality Family Planning Services provides guidance on how to provide family planning and contraceptive counseling services. For more information about tools to help healthcare providers implement the recommendations, visit Family Planning National Training Centers.
• CDC also developed teen pregnancy prevention tools for healthcare providers, including ideas to make clinics adolescent-friendly and recommendations on how to implement CDC’s evidence-based guidance in their practices.

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