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From development disccusion at Wikipedia:List of infoboxes/Proposed
Below is a copy of the discussion that took place in the development of this template at Wikipedia:List of infoboxes/Proposed: David Ruben Talk 02:31, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
This is an infobox for all birth control methods. It was proposed on the Birth Control article talk page. Feel free to propose changes and edit until we reach a consensus. Then we can convert it to a template. -- MamaGeek (Talk/Contrib) 12:05, 14 June 2006 (UTC)Quick question before I turn this live with coding - what to call it ? Options might include 'Infobox Birth control' (my preference and will auto-locate to better place in lists of infoboxes better that other options) ), 'Infobox Birth control methods', 'BirthContolBox', 'Birth control methodsbox' (but last two sound as if control boxes for birthing process). Remember Template:Birth control methods already active as the bottom navigation/summary box for these articles. David Ruben Talk 02:30, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
Coding issues
Template transcribed from proposal to beta-test live version with conditional coding inserted (see final point e possible display bug).
- Description of the conditional Parsers functions may be found at Wikimedia:ParserFunctions
- The STD variable is tested repeated, for both 'Yes' and 'yes' in the advantages section. In the disadvantages section it is tested for 'No' and 'no', but additionally for the parameter being undefined in which case a '?' is shown.
- Optional parameters not shown if undefined, but view on template page suggests this is currently causing an additional row to be included for the section headers. Will need try out on some articles, but if confirmed, I'd appreciate anyone with coding experience try to help fix this... David Ruben Talk 02:31, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
Problems with coding seem sorted, so removed queries in the process control methods_infobox&oldid=59351768 as of this version David Ruben Talk 01:37, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
Note the addition of a name parameter - used because Oral contraception currently mostly about 'Combined oral contrceptive pill' (article of that name redirects to Oral contraceptive formulation that covers both COCP & POPs) David Ruben Talk 01:37, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
text alignment
Is there any way to left-align the actual info, instead of having it justified, as it is now? The justification leads to some strange splitting of text in practice (see the NFP page). MamaGeek (Talk/Contrib) 17:31, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
Failure rates
I've added a "per year" to the template to reflect that failure rates are per year, not per use. That makes a difference... Conscious 13:18, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Advantages/Disadvantages
The classification of any effect as an advantage or disadvantage is POV--they should be listed together as Effects, rather than separated according to an opinion of what is beneficial or harmful. Weight gain may be considered an advantage for some, while those who think STDs should be there to intimidate youths may consider disease protection a disadvantage. Night Gyr (talk/Oy) 03:51, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
I think the problem with the weight gain parameter is more that it always appears in disadvantages - the Lactational Amenorrhea Method article currently has "weight loss" listed as a disadvantage of the method. Funny. Anyway, on topic: I prefer having advantages and disadvantages listed in the infobox. I believe it greatly increases the utility of the infobox. Any POV introduced by particular use of the box should be able to be solved by discussion on the Talk page of the particular method. Lyrl Talk Contribs 23:07, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
Weight loss is not always an advantage. There are some people who struggle to maintain a healthy weight or may be on medication where weight loss is a concern. Additionally, not everyone considers having a period an advantage, some women dislike having their period and intentionally seek treatments that reduce or eliminate it. Neitherday 00:01, 3 May 2007 (UTC) Others see having a period as sacred and view having none or less as a disadvantage. Neitherday 01:00, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
I've combined the "Advantages" and "Disadvantages" into "Advantages and Disadvantages" while maintaining back compatibility with articles that used the older version. Neitherday 01:00, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
"Pregnancy rate" rather than "failure rate"
I would like to edit this infobox to change "failure rate" to "pregnancy rate". This is the usage in some birth control literature e.g. and I believe this usage is growing and that it will become standard. The phrase "pregnancy rate" is much more courteous towards those people whose lives happened to begin while their parents were trying to prevent pregnancy. "Failure rate" can be perceived as very negative towards those people; "pregnancy rate" is neutral and its meaning is quite clear -- even slightly clearer than "failure rate", perhaps, which could possibly be misinterpreted in some contexts as a failure to achieve pregnancy. I'm also planning to similarly edit the wording on the birth control and natural family planning pages and perhaps other pages. I'm leaving an opportunity for discussion before making the change. --Coppertwig 22:27, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
(edit conflict) Thanks Lyrl, I was about to add that this point has also been opened at Talk:Birth control#"pregnancy rate" rather than "failure rate". Given that larger number of editors are likely to view this issue there, I think further debate should NOT be duplicated/continued here :-) David Ruben Talk 03:03, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
Right. This discussion is to continue at Talk:Birth control#"pregnancy rate" rather than "failure rate". Sorry, I should have directed discussion to a single place in the first place. --Coppertwig 03:52, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
(Note that in the discussion on that page, I've mentioned two new test versions of this infobox, including one that allows the default text (usually a question mark) to display properly.) --Coppertwig 04:46, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
Note ongoing discussion and proposal to install newer version of infobox at Talk:Birth control#"pregnancy rate" rather than "failure rate" --Coppertwig 17:33, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
"first year" versus "per year"
- The failure rate in this template should by default state it is for the "first year" not "per year".
- It is inaccurate and misleading to report the Percentage of women experiencing an unintended pregnancy during the first year of typical use and the first year of perfect use of contraception as "per year" because both typical use and perfect use contraceptive failure rates decline with continuing use. PMID 15288211
- For example, a large WHO randomized, multicenter trial reported a cumulative 12-year pregnancy rate of 2.2 per 100 women for the TCu380A IUD (an average rate of 0.18 pregnancies per 100 women per year over 12 years) that was equivalent to a cumulative 10-year pregnancy rate of 1.8 per 100 women for female sterilization (an average rate of 0.18 pregnancies per 100 women per year over 10 years). PMID 9494767
FP101 21:38, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
Weight change entry
I'm not sure the weight change line in this template is useful anymore. It's "no change" for everything except breastfeeding, where the weight loss is more a side effect of how much the child eats and not the specific behaviors that prevent pregnancy (frequent smaller feedings, the woman being near the infant as close to 24/7 as possible, etc.). It used to be "yes" for the hormonal methods, but one editor has presented some lengthy documentation that modern low-dose formulations, at least, do not have any effect on weight (Talk:Combined oral contraceptive pill#Side effects studies - you have to scroll down quite a bit to get to the section on weight, it starts on the third screen on my monitor). How do others feel about removing "weight change" from this template? Lyrl Talk C 22:47, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
While I don't have a strong opinion on whether or not weight is kept as a separate infobox item, I think it should be noted that Lactational amenorrhea method lists "Weight - loss". Neitherday 00:5
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