“Bedsider” Website a Welcome New Resource on Birth Control

While the goal of reducing unwanted pregnancy is certainly admirable (and quite feminist!), the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy has something of a… weird history. In the past, their campaigns have been criticized for being anti-abortion and, paradoxically, for shaming teen moms (see here).

But they’ve always been quite media savvy, a handy skill when you’re trying to raise awareness about teen and unwanted pregnancy. And it seems their media know-how is finally paying off with the exciting launch of their well-designed and resourceful new site Bedsider.

With an explicit focus on providing information on birth control in a fun and comprehensive way to young people and young women in particular, Bedsider manages to avoid all that grey-area moral judgey-stuff and fill a real-life need for a crucial demographic.

The site is billed as a sort of one-stop resource for all your birth control needs.  You can find out if you are eligible for free birth control, set up reminders for yourself about when to take what, and get answers to your sex and contraception questions. But my absolute favorite feature might be their birth control comparison matrix, which sets up different methods side by side to help you determine which one is right for you. Yay information!

The site launch corresponds to a major public services campaign with more than 33,000 media outlets and comes with the requisite funnier than average PSAs, including the one below. I appreciate the diversity of body type and race of the actors involved, and the light-hearted but earnest messaging around sex and sexuality. Do check it out!