<p>It may be that the nurse didn’t think that part of the history was sensitive. When I was a minor my nurse used to ask about the basic history in front of my mom and then wait for her to leave to ask about the sensitive topics (drug use, sexual history, mental health, etc).</p>
<p>D1 grew up with migraines and D2 also has a condition which makes her faint easily. Because of those health issues, I asked my kids to have a full examination before they went on BC and also be monitored closely. I was with them in the doctor’s office going over various options available to them. No, I would prefer if school nurse wouldn’t just give my kids BC without my knowledge.</p>
<p>“as a parent do you think you should know”</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>While I am in favor of promoting safe sex practices, there is no way that a nurse should be allowed to prescribe birth control pills. This should only be done by a physician. Everyone with a daughter of college age needs to know the risk (albeit small) of girls developing a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is increased if the girl smokes. A thorough history should be obtained to look at the family’s health history. A nurse is not trained to do this.</p>
<p>^^Depends. In some states a Nurse Practitioner can prescribe. States where NPs can prescribe (including controlled substances) independent of any physician involvement: AK, AZ, DC, IA, ME, MT, NH, NM, OR, UT, WA, WI, WY.</p>
<p>I agree that a doctor/NP should do the prescribing.</p>
<p>Also agree with the majority here that parents do not need to know about any of this if the student is over 18. </p>
<p>You also might be surprised how many under-18 girls are being prescribed birth control pills (with their parents’ consent, once they get over the shock of the idea of it) to help treat out-of-control acne and hormones and irregular or heavy periods.</p>
<p>I think the age groups need to be broken up here. Middle school age IS too young for sex, but certainly kids are HAVING sex at that age. Some are even “nice girls” from “good families”. I know this because my father was a pharmacist and I spent my high school and college years working for him. We sold condoms to kids in middle and high school. Mostly HS, but not always. And this was in the dark ages-35 years ago. I don’t imagine it’s different today. And no, we didn’t call their parents, if we knew them. Not ideal, of course. But it beats the kids getting STD’s or AIDS. </p>
<p>The high schools in Seattle all have health clinics that allow parents to sign off on various levels of permission for treatment, which includes birth control and mental health. These clinics are staffed by people from the group of hospitals that help fund them. I always checked the full permission box for my older D because I would rather she come to me, but if not, that she not become a teen mom or get help for a mental health issue, etc. Not all parents signed these forms, and at least one of D’s friends ended up pregnant because she “couldn’t talk to her mother”.</p>
<p>At the college level, at 18+, it’s up to the young adult. Most colleges have health clinics-mine did 35 years ago and that’s where I went to get birth control because that’s where I was. I DID discuss it with my parents, their both being health professionals, not because it was their business. I already knew about the health risks, seeing as that had been part of my many conversations with my parents when I was younger.</p>
<p>As for condoms in HS or college-have at it, give away all they can, and keep it private, ESPECIALLY at the college level. No, no one should be calling home in that case.</p>
<p>If your child or his/her gf/bf is younger than the age of consent in your state then YES the parent needs to know .Because depending on the state your child could end up with a record.</p>
<p>Regarding adult children and health care.
If you have a good relationship with your kids- then you can ask them questions about their health. If you can’t ask them, or if you don’t have the sort of relationship in which they will come to you even occasionally for advice or help, then you have bigger problems than HIPAA. 
The laws in our state protects the privacy of minors after they reach 13 or 14 yrs depending on what they are being treated for.
[The</a> HIPAA Privacy Rule and Adolescents: Legal Questions and Clinical Challenges](<a href=“http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3608004.html]The”>The HIPAA Privacy Rule and Adolescents: Legal Questions and Clinical Challenges | Guttmacher Institute)</p>
<p>My daughters public high school, along with ten other high schools and four middle schools in the Seattle area have health centers.
Parents fill out health & release forms at the beginning of every school year.
It was staffed with both psychiatric and regular nurse practitioners. I actually knew one of the NPs from my many years associated with the Parents of Prematures group, so I felt comfortable stopping by when I had questions or concerns about my daughters health.</p>
<p>( because of privacy issues- they could not disclose certain things, but welcomed parental input & information - since even organized kids dont share everything( or remember) that could be affecting their health) Since her schedule was so busy taking remedial & AP courses and her sports teams, it was a boon to have a clinic in the school itself. I know she wasn’t the only student who had much better care than she would have without that access.</p>
<p>D was on birth control pills senior year because she wanted to control her periods when she stayed in an African villages without potable water.( I know that obviously that the women who live there have devised ways to cope, but it sounded worth trying to me)
I don’t believe health care was free- but a subsidized sliding scale, but since we have insurance, the insurance covered the remainder.
[School-based</a> Health Centers & School Nurses - Seattle Human Services Department](<a href=“http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/foodhealth/publichealth/school.htm]School-based”>http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/foodhealth/publichealth/school.htm)</p>
<p>Older daughters private school didn’t have a health clinic, but Planned Parenthood wasn’t far away & they did have a field trip there in middle & high school, but the community could have benefited from having someone in the school- even a nurse, as the office staff took on those roles when needed and pediatrician offices aren’t really set up for most teens to access on a casual basis. Teens have so many questions and concerns that they don’t necessarily want their parents to know about/ worry about and if it requires making an appt and transportation rather than just dropping in to a clinic in their school, they are likely to downplay it till it can’t be ignored anymore. ( kind of like grown men):rolleyes:</p>
<p>Its counter-intuitive, but looking back- the public schools had advantages over private that I didn’t fully appreciate at the time. The private school had a counselor, but for instance my daughters public k-12 school had a psychologist, a counselor, a family support worker and a drug & alcohol counselor. With roughly as many students as the private prep school. ( the family support worker & drug & alcohol counselor were almost full time, but only part of their salary was paid by the school, the rest was paid by city levies)</p>
<p>As I think it is appropriate for high schools to have health care available for students, its even more so for that service to be available to college students where they * live*.</p>
<p>In my neck of the woods, there are a lot of families where GPs are raising their GCs. DW and I decided that was NOT going to be us. We told our DDs if they have a kid, don’t expect us to raise it. As soon as our DDs got into “serious” relationships, we INSISTED they go on the pill. Teens are going to have sex, whether YOU like it or not. Might as well face reality and arm them with the proper tools. As for parental notification, I can’t imagine an informed, modern parent saying no, but if a high school age student was afraid of telling her parents, I would absolutely support her right to get BC without parental notification. She’d be showing a lot more maturity than her parents.</p>
<p>Fwiw, most gynecologist and obstetricians favor OTC birth control. It should be OTC and available regardless of age. This would take care of the whole debate.</p>
<p>Agreed. Of course, there is a growing movement among some groups to ban most birth control regardless of who is providing it. It’s a scary time for women.</p>
<p>One thing that would be lost if the Pill was OTC - there are a wide range of different hormone combos. It is baffling sometimes, even trying to figure out what OTC cold medicine to take and how it might interact with something that seems innocuous. I can imagine women would be tempted to pick up whatever is on sale when refilling. That might not be smartest or most effective way.</p>
<p>Also, having conceived one of my kids on the Pill (probably due to antibiotic prescribed - no pharmacist mentioned it might be an issue, either), there might be less counseling with a Pharmacist on risks of the medication. </p>
<p>Lots of women take it for years and never have an issue. Others do.</p>
<p>I feel very strongly that anyone considering having sex should have access to free, confidential birth control.</p>
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<p>Do you have a source for that? Hormonal means of birth control can have serious side effects and probably should be taken under a medical professional’s supervision. Mechanical barrier methods should be OTC but BCPs, implants, shots and IUDs all have downsides that should probably be monitored and managed. Blood pressure and clots can be a problem esp. for older women.</p>
<p>Just the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ support. Can’t find any polls atm.</p>
<p>While I can understand a parent’s desire to be aware if their child is on prescription birth control, I have to stop short of demanding they be notified. Just because someone is a minor doesn’t mean they don’t deserve privacy in some matters. Many teens have parents that would not allow their child to be on BC if they found out and I believe that is the choice of the teen (with guidance from her doctor of course). I think we have to stop treating sex like such a shameful thing instead of the normal human behavior that it is. I won’t encourage my son to have sex, but I will let him know that it is normal to want to and if he does (responsibly of course) there is nothing wrong with him. I’ll do the same with my daughters if I have any. I’ll give my children the tools they need to make responsible decisions. Hopefully they’ll come to me if they need help.</p>
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<p>Same thing happened to me while on antibiotics. The surprising but happy result of that event took place a year and a half after my marriage but two years prior to when I had planned to become a mom. She is now in grad school. Wow, how time flies. :)</p>
<p>My only hesitation about putting teens on birth control pills is the potential temptation to forgo condoms, which addresses the risk of STDs. They really need lots of counseling about the importance of not simply relying on BC pills in order to fully protect themselves. I made that a major topic of conversation with my girls.</p>
<p>I am totally against a middle school student getting OTC birth control without parents’ knowledge or permission. How many threads have been on this forum about young people’s brain not being fully developed before the age of 25. So now, we are going to let little Suzie purchase birth control pills without any knowledge of the parents or any counseling from a Dr. or someone at the pharmacy? These medications can have major side effects. Many Americans are completely incapable of taking antibiotics correctly. But, a 14 year old can take something like BCP correctly? No way.</p>
<p>If BCP would be available to anyone without a prescription, then I feel that no pharmaceutical manufacturer be allowed to be sued because someone took the pills improperly. Suzie has a stroke, so too bad for the parents. They have to pay for any medical costs associated with the possible consequences.</p>
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<p>For health reasons such as the ones you mentioned, I agree. But I think condoms should be free and available to anyone who wants one. Ideally, a middle school child is not having sex, but in the real world, I would like at least one layer of protection to be easily available to those who would insist.</p>