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 The best birth control to offer teenage girls is an implantable rod, followed by an IUD, pediatricians say in new guidance. It may seem odd to think of a pediatrician prescribing birth control, but it makes perfect sense, the American Academy of Pediatrics says in new guidance. “Adolescents consider pediatricians and other health care providers a highly trusted source of sexual health information,” the new guidance reads. Pediatricians typically see their patients well into their teens and often into their early 20s, by which time most people have had sex at least once. 
 
 The academy assigned a team to check into the most effective and safe forms of contraception for teenagers. Of course, the best sex is no sex. “Abstinence is 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and is an important part of contraceptive counseling,” the guidance says. But data also show that teenagers almost always ignore abstinence advice and their own promises. So pediatricians should recommend the following contraceptives in this order: 
 
 IN-DEPTH 
 
 — Maggie Fox
– The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its policy on birth control, and the pill clocks in at a distant fourth in terms of recommended methods for teen girls. The new guidance advises that teens use long-acting methods like IUDs or hormonal implants, which are almost 100% effective and do a better job in preventing pregnancy than birth control pills, patches, and injections. NBC News has the order of recommendation: Progestin implants like Implanon or Nexplanon Intrauterine devices (IUDs) Depo-Provera, which is injected every 13 to 15 weeks Combined oral contraceptive pills Condoms are currently teens' No. 1 birth control choice, reports the AP. Though condoms appear low on the academy's list of recommended birth control, the policy pushes for condoms to be used in every instance of teen sex to guard against STDs. The guidance also notes that "an important part of contraceptive counseling" is a discussion about abstinence. The policy statement's lead author does acknowledge that IUDs and hormonal implants can cost hundreds more than other birth control methods, but points out that because they last for years, they're cheaper than the pill in the long run. The recommendations are in line with what the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended in 2012.