As technologies advance, women are moving past conventional forms of birth control and reaching toward new-age methods. The Northern Star will examine five alternative methods of birth control in a four-day series.

Tuesday: Ortho Evra (patch)

Wednesday: Depo-Provera (injection)

Thursday: Intrauterine Device (IUD)

Today: Morning After Pill and Seasonale

Although new, alternate methods of birth control such as “the shot” and “the patch” now are available, a new birth control pill, Seasonale, is about to hit the market.

The new pill was approved by the FDA on Sept. 5. However, it won’t be available for use until the end of October, said Debra Fetting, pharmacy supervisor and pharmacist for the University Health Service pharmacy.

Seasonale contains 84 active pills and seven inactive pills. Other oral contraceptives contain 21 active and seven inactive pills per month.

By taking the 84 active pills, the woman only gets her period three to four times a year, Fetting said.

Doctors have been allowing female patients to alter their monthly period for quite some time now, Fetting said. This is called cycling, and it’s nothing new.

Doctors tell their patients to take only the active pills for the month, skipping the fourth week and continuing on to the active pills for the second month, Fetting said. Taking the pills in this manner makes a woman skip her period.

Because it already is possible to stop a menstrual cycle by taking only active pills, Fetting said she believes Seasonale is kind of a market gimmick. Seasonale is no different than cycling, she said. It’s just packaged differently.

As of right now, Fetting is uncertain whether UHS Pharmacy will offer Seasonale. Her assumption is that it will cost students more for one pack of Seasonale than it would for four packs of another kind of pill.

If Seasonale is inexpensive, there is a possibility that UHS will offer it, Fetting said. Because Seasonale already is packaged for cycling, it may lessen students’ confusion when trying to cycle their periods.

Nordette, one oral contraceptive UHS offers, has the same ingredients as Seasonale and often is used with cycling, Fetting said. Cycling can be done with any kind of monophasic pill, meaning each pill in the pack has the same dosage.

The Morning After Pill is a type of emergency contraception still being used.

Preven and Plan B are the two main types of this pill, said Lindsay Gates, senior certified pharmacy technician at Walgreen’s Pharmacy.

The Morning After Pill is different than other types of birth control pills, Gates said.

This pill is used only as an emergency fix. If you think you may have gotten pregnant the night before, you take the Morning After Pill to rid your chances, Gates said.

“It is supposed to be used as a one-time emergency,” Gates said. “But many people try to get numerous refills.”

Although the staff at Walgreen’s does give refills on occasion, Gates said it is not to be used as a permanent form of birth control and doctors shouldn’t allow refills.

She said the constant use of this pill is irresponsible. If a woman needs constant protection against pregnancy, there are more suitable pill forms made strictly for that reason, Gates said.

Not everyone who uses the Morning After Pill is labeled irresponsible.

The Morning After Pill often is used for cases of rape. To be sure that pregnancy won’t result in the instance of rape, the victim can take this emergency contraception.

Even with student insurance benefits, anyone looking to get birth control of any kind will have to pay upon pickup. NIU’s student insurance doesn’t cover any prescriptions, including birth control.

Students requesting prescribed birth control must watch a brief video that explains general health and facts about gynecology.