What You Should Know About Birth Control

 What You Should Know About Birth Control

There are many more forms of birth control than just the condom and the pill, and it's a good idea to explore your options.

By Dennis Thompson Jr.

Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH

When it comes to birth control, men know plenty about condoms, a little about birth control pills (women take one a day, right?) but not a whole lot else.

It's a pretty good idea for you to know about the other forms of birth control. For example, when she says she's using a diaphragm, you should understand what that means and how well-protected against pregnancy the two of you are.

So here's a basic guide to the most widely used forms of birth control.

Birth Control: Condoms

·         Male condoms. The granddaddy of birth control devices, condoms have been around for centuries. Condoms are thin sheaths made of latex or plastic that are rolled onto the penis prior to sex. They prevent pregnancy by catching and containing sperm when a man ejaculates. Condoms are low-cost and easily available. They also are the only form of birth control that will protect both partners against most sexually transmitted diseases.
Failure Rate: About 15 out of every 100 couples each year may become pregnant using condoms.

·         Female condoms. Doctors also have created female condoms, plastic pouches that are inserted deep into the vagina. They cover the vagina and catch sperm after ejaculation. However, they are not as easy to use or as effective as the male condom.
Failure Rate: About 21 out of every 100 couples each year may become pregnant using female condoms.

Birth Control Pills

Birth control pills are made of hormones that keep a woman’s ovaries from releasing an egg each month, a process known as ovulation. If there's no egg to join with a sperm, pregnancy can't occur. The hormones also thicken a woman's cervical mucus, helping it slow down and block sperm headed for the uterus.

The pill has to be taken every day, whether or not the woman has sex, to be effective as birth control.

Failure Rate: Fewer than 1 out of every 100 couples may become pregnant if the pill is taken perfectly — every day, at about the same time each day. But about 8 out of 100 couples may become pregnant if the pill isn't taken each day as directed.

Birth Control: Female Barrier Methods

These are devices women use to block sperm from reaching the egg. They are used in conjunction with a spermicidal (sperm-killing) cream, foam, or gel.

·         Diaphragm. Made of latex and shaped like a dome with a flexible rim, the diaphragm is inserted into the vagina prior to sex to cover the opening of the cervix.
Failure Rate: About 16 out of 100 couples.

·         Cervical cap. This sailor's hat-shaped silicone cup is inserted into the vagina and over the cervix.
Failure Rate: About 29 out of 100 couples (less effective for women who have previously given birth than for women who have not).

·         Contraceptive sponge. The plastic foam sponge containing spermicide is inserted deep into the vagina.
Failure Rate: About 16 to 30 out of 100 couples (less effective for women who have previously given birth than for women who have not).

Other Female Birth Control Options

·         Vaginal ring. This contraceptive ring is flexible and small and is inserted into the vagina once a month. The ring releases hormones to prevent ovulation. It is left in place for three weeks, then taken out for the last week of the month.
Failure Rate: About 8 out of 100 couples.

·         Birth control patch. This thin plastic patch is stuck to a woman’s skin. The patch releases contraceptive hormones and is replaced once a week. It follows the same three-weeks on, one-week off pattern of the vaginal ring.
Failure Rate: About 8 out of 100 couples.

·         Birth control shot. One injection of the hormone called progestin will prevent pregnancy for three months.
Failure Rate: About 3 out of 100 couples.

·         IUD, or intrauterine devices, are small, shaped like the letter “T”, and made of flexible plastic. They are placed by a doctor or gynecologist into a woman's uterus. IUDs prevent sperm from joining with an egg, but it's not entirely clear how they work. There are some health risks involved, and doctors often prefer to use IUDs in women who've already had a baby.
Failure Rate: Less than 1 out of 100 couples.

Birth Control: Sterilization

Sterlilization is the ultimate birth control, in which surgeons render pregnancy impossible by permanently altering the reproductive system. Generally speaking, these procedures are irreversible.

·         Vasectomy. A surgeon closes or blocks the tubes that transmit sperm into the seminal fluid released during ejaculation. The blocked sperm are absorbed by the man’s body, and ejaculate released during sex is incapable of causing pregnancy.

·         Tubal ligation. A surgeon ties, cuts, or seals a woman's fallopian tubes, which carry eggs from the ovaries into the uterus for impregnation.

If you and your partner have unprotected intercourse or if the condom breaks what then? You should know that emergency contraception in the form of “the morning-after pill” (Plan B) is available without a prescription to women age 18 and older. This medication, a hormone called progestin, can prevent pregnancy if taken within three, and possibly within five days after unprotected sex. It is as effective as other hormonal forms of birth control, but the earlier it is taken the better. Plan B will not protect against pregnancy for any future acts of intercourse, and it is not meant to be used for anything other than emergency situations.