The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has conditionally approved a female condom. The new method of contraception also provides women with protection against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as AIDS.
The new female condom, or vaginal pouch, with the trade name Reality, is manufactured by Wisconsin Pharmacal, of Jackson, Wisconsin, and may be on the market in the near future. It will, for the first time, allow a woman to choose a contraception method she can insert herself. And, similar to the male condom, the female condom will not allow the transfer of fluids during intercourse.
The new female condom is prelubricated and about the same length as a male condom, but wider. It has two rings— an inner ring which is inserted into the vagina in much the same way as a diaphragm fits over the cervix and behind the pubic bone, and an outer ring which stays outside the vagina. The outer ring covers the labia and prevents sperm from entering the uterus.
Studies conducted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggest several advantages to the female condom including the fact that it is thinner than male condoms, permitting more sensitivity; it is more difficult for viruses or bacteria to penetrate because it is stronger than male latex condoms; it can be removed immediately following intercourse; and it does not require either sizing or a prescription.
In the early fall of 1991 an FDA advisory panel gave their conditional approval to Reality and Wisconsin Pharmacal is conducting more studies for the panel. The panel will also make recommendations about the entry of the female condom into the public market. However, the FDA advisory panel can do nothing more than make recommendations— executives of the FDA will be making the final decision on whether or not the new female condom, Reality, is approved for use by the general public.
Women: Barrier Methods Of Contraception Can Lower Your Sexual
Disease Risk
A University of North Carolina study indicates that barrier methods of contraception, controlled by women, may work better than the male condom to prevent some sexually transmitted diseases. The findings revealed that those women who used diaphragms and contraceptive sponges were less likely to get gonorrhea trichomoniasis (a vaginal infection) and chlamydia, which is the most common sexually transmitted disease, than women who used no contraception, who were sterilized, or whose partners used condoms.
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