Did you know that you can subscribe to my weekly Contraception Newsletter? It's free and is delivered straight to your email. I received the following question from one of my newsletter's subscribers. This question has to do with birth control pills and is probably one of the most common questions that my readers ask me.

Leigh wanted to know the following,
"Help! My fiancé has planned a super-romantic get-a-way for the two of us over Christmas...the only problem, according to my calculations, I should be having my period during that time. I am currently on the pill. I've heard that women can skip their periods using the pill, is this safe? If so, how do you do it?"

Good news Leigh - women can definitely skip their periods while using combination birth control pills, basically by beginning your next pack of pills during the start of your placebo week. Also, you will be happy to know that doing this is perfectly safe!

• How To Skip Your Period Using The Pill
• The Safety of Skipping Periods

Also of Interest:

• Using NuvaRing to Skip Your Period
• Skip Your Period Using the Ortho Evra Patch

_{Birth Control Pills Photo © 2008 Dawn Stacey}

According to the latest report by the Guttmacher Institute, the average American woman, who wants two children, spends about five years pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant, and three decades (more than 3/4ths of her reproductive life) trying to avoid pregnancy. In 2006:

• There were 66.4 million women in the US of reproductive age US
• More than half (36.2) of these women were in need of contraceptive services and supplies
• Of the 36.2 million who needed birth control, 17.5 million were in need of publicly funded services and supplies because they either had an income below 250% of the federal poverty level or were younger than 20

The importance of publicly funded family planning centers can be seen in the fact that one-quarter of US women and half of poor women all received care at publicly funded family planning centers in 2006. Publicly funded family planning services help women to avoid pregnancies they do not want and to plan pregnancies they do. In 2006, these services helped women avoid 1.94 million unintended pregnancies, which would likely have resulted in about 860,000 unintended births and 810,000 abortions.

• What Qualifies as Contraception?
• Why Use Contraception?
• Online Birth Control Glossary

Read the Full Guttmacher Institute Report: Facts on Publicly Funded Contraceptive Services in the United States

_{Photo Courtesy of Keith Brofsky/Getty Images}

Hope you all had a fun Halloween. Now that the holiday has passed, most people expect the haunting and tricks to be over. If, however, you are facing an unintended pregnancy  and try to seek help from a crisis pregnancy center, beware that you may encounter some mischief. These pregnancy centers may offer free pregnancy tests and appear to provide support about abortion, adoption, and pregnancy options, but many crisis pregnancy centers may be deceptive and misleading.

• Before You Seek Support From a Crisis Pregnancy Center

More Crisis Pregnancy Center Resources:

• Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Services and Agendas
• History of Crisis Pregnancy Centers
• Major Complaints Against Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Efforts to Protect Women

_{Photo Courtesy of Keith Brofsky/Getty Images}

The Smart Mother's Guide to a Better Pregnancy is a book that empowers pregnant women by emphasizing the importance of knowledge during a pregnancy. This pregnancy guide provides information about how to seek the best prenatal care. Topics range from healthcare issues to pregnancy statistics and there is a helpful section on teen pregnancy. This is a comprehensive book that yields valuable information (that may not be obvious) for pregnant women to consider.

Read my review of this book and add your own review as well!

Book Review: Smart Mother's Guide

_{The Smart Mother's Guide to a Better Pregnancy Photo © 2009 Dawn Stacey}