Spotlight: Dawn About.com

Spotlight: Dawn Websites: About.com: Contraception Twitter: @Dawn_Stacey Writing for: 5+ years, started Contraception site/blog in 2007 Occupation: Writer, Advocate, Professor, Stay-at-Home Mommy Favorite vacation spot: "Maui - its so laid back and the scenery is breathtaking!"

How did you first become interested in contraception, family planning, and other women’s health issues?
While pursing my Masters degree, I did an internship at Planned Parenthood that later turned into a full-time job. Through Planned Parenthood, I had the amazing chance to experience real-life struggles and joys in the area of reproductive health. I witnessed both births and abortions—so I can truly describe what to really expect during these times. This introduced me to the world of activism and how important it is to advocate for women’s health issues. Ever since, my passion for contraception and family planning has only grown.

What motivates you in your writing?
I believe that all individuals have the right to manage their fertility and should have access to accurate birth control information. I am passionate about contraception and its importance. My advocacy is what truly motivates me.

I would love to see everyone make safe sex choices and reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions. And I love educating people about their birth control choices and having seen firsthand how these decisions affect all of our lives.

Who do you admire in the women's health community?
Though she is no longer around, Margaret Sanger, in my opinion, is the epitome of reproductive health advocacy. I admire all the work that she did to pave the way to where we are today.

What are the biggest trends you see around birth control?
It seems that there has been a renewed interest in IUD use (either the Mirena IUD or the ParaGard IUD). This makes me happy since IUDs have gotten a bad rap in the past. Also, a lot of people as me about extended-cycle birth control pills. These are pills that allow a woman to manage how often she has her period. For example, Lybrel is a pill that is taken every day, so a woman can have no periods. And Seasonique is designed so that a woman only has a 4 periods a year. These are great options for women who have terrible symptoms with their periods. Plan B, emergency contraception, is also a very popular trend right now.

What are the first three tips you tell people who are trying to select a new form of birth control?
People need to know that having sex is about making choices. We choose: our partners, when we're ready to have sex, when to wait, and what we feel comfortable doing. Now we can finally choose to have sex in the safest way.

When choosing a method, people should factor in a few things: how effective they want the method to be, how convenient, and what type of method would fit into their lifestyle best so that they will be more likely to use it. Also, are they even a candidate for this method? What are the health risks?

What is your favorite health-related website?
That’s easy… mine! One thing that I love about my contraception site is that I created the whole thing—it was my concept. When I began writing for About.com in 2007, there was no contraception site. I was hired to build it from the ground up, so I have personally written every article and blog entry found there.

All my articles are full of accurate information and licensed medical doctors medically review them. So people can know that, without a doubt, the information I am providing is correct. (So much online info about birth control is not correct).

I also try to write in a way that people can understand since these topics can be fairly complex. My website is a wonderful platform to share my knowledge and my understanding of the personal issues that surround birth control use.

What is your favorite health-related book?
I have two – “Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health” by Toni Weschler and “Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Book Collective” by Judy Norsigian

Is your writing/project therapeutic?
Very much so. It is wonderful to know that I am helping people make very important decisions. After all, look at what is at stake if people make the wrong decisions about their contraception—pregnancy. The topics that I write about are really life-altering.

Words cannot capture the feeling I get when people tell me, via their emails, how much I have helped them or given them clarity. When I find my writing cited elsewhere on the web, it is a true testament to my job and my mission!

Learn more about Dawn Stacey, Guide to Contraception
About.com | Guidance. Not Guesswork.


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