Birth Control
Information-Based Methods
Information methods are based on facts about how pregnancy occurs and how the the woman and man's reproductive systems work. With this information, women and men have pregnancy prevention choices that are safe, work well, and are very inexpensive.
Barrier Methods
These methods are used during intercourse to prevent pregnancy. They work by stopping sperm from getting to the egg. Some barrier methods can also be used to help prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). These are the male and female condoms. Male condoms can also be used during oral and anal sex to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
Hormonal Methods
Hormonal methods work in different ways depending on the method being used. The two main ways most of the hormonal methods can work to prevent pregnancy are:
- They keep eggs from leaving the ovary.
- They change the mucus made in the cervix so that sperm can't live and travel through it to get to the egg. (The cervix is the bottom part of the uterus that is at the back of the vagina.)
Another way some of the hormonal methods may work is to cause the lining of the uterus to begin to thin. This can prevent the fertilized eggs from attaching to it and growing. The chance of a method working in this way is very unlikely.
The hormones in these methods are very much like the horomones estrogen and preogesterone that are made naturally in every woman's body. Estrogen and progestoran are chemicals made in the ovaries that send special messages to the other parts of a woman's body to prepare it for the possibility of becoming pregnant. However, when hormonal methods are used, they stop the woman's body from making the right amount of these hormones. This causes changes in the woman's body that stop her from becoming pregnant.
Hormonal methods work very well to prevent pregnancy, but do not protect against HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. If a woman is concerned that she might get a sexually transmitted disease from her partner, they should use condoms.
Long Term Methods
Long term methods include three types of pregnancy prevention methods that work for several years. One type of long term method is known as sterilization. It is considered a permanent method because the chances of reversing it so that someone can get pregnant is very small. Sterilization methods are used by people who do not want any children, or who have had all the children they want and do not want any more.
The second kind is called an interuterine device or system. This type of method can be used for three years or more depending on the type chosen. The third kind is the implant; this method can be used for three years.
Long term methods work very well to prevent pregnancy, but do not protect against HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. If you are having sex with someone who might give you a sexually transmitted disease, use a condom.
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