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Condoms: Protection against pregnancy and STDs. Can be found in most drugstores and usually for little or no cost at family planning clinics. The condom must be put on before penetration and taken out/off immediately after ejaculation. 85-98% effective against pregnancy. IUDs (introuterine devices): Little plastic "T" inserted into uterus that prevents embryo from developing after fertilization. Not the same thing as an abortion! You have to get it inserted at a health care professional's office, and it's 97.4-99.2% effective. Spermicides: Inserted 15-30 minutes before sex inside the vagina, near the cervix, and can be purchased in drugstores. They prevent sperm from entering, as well as some STDs. 72-94% effective when used alone. Diaphragm or cervical cap: Both are cup-shaped latex barriers used with spermicides to prevent sperm from reaching the cervix. They can be inserted in the vagina 2-3 hours before intercourse but have to be left in for 6-8 hours after. Like IUDs, they have to be fitted by a health care professional. Diaphragms are 80-94% effective and cervical caps are 80-90% effective. Female condom: Inserted inside the vagina before penetration. Like latex condoms, they can be purchased without seeing a doctor and they have to be removed after ejaculation, but not immediately. They can be difficult to insert, used also for anal sex, and they're 79-95% effective against pregnancy. Dental dam: Not for preventing pregnancy, only STDs. It's a big, stretchy piece of material to hold across girl bits while going down on a girl (giving oral sex). They're kinda big and awkward, so you can use a smaller piece of seran wrap, but not the microwavable kind (those have teeny pores). Hormonal Methods - prevent eggs from releasing. Can only be obtained through a doctor. Depo-Provera (a shot in the ass): It is, indeed, a shot in the ass. Each shot lasts 12 weeks (approx. three months), and you have to go into a health care professional to get it. 99.7% effective. The Pill: Taken orally at the same time every day. There are three weeks worth of "active" pills, with hormones in them, and one week of placebo pills (just so you stay in the habit). During that week of "inactive" pills, you get your period. Yet again, you have to get them from a doctor, and they're 95-99.9% effective against pregnancy. Birth Control Patch (Ortho-Evra): A lot like the pill in the way it works. You put on a new patch once a week for three consecutive weeks, leaving it off on the fourth week when you get your period. 95-99.9% effective. Norplant (implants): Six small implants in your arm that last five, count em five years, although they can be removed any time during the five years. They're slightly more effective against pregnancy than sterilization; 99.95%. Emergency Contraception (morning after pill): Emergency Contraception is either the morning after pill or an IUD which you should recieve within 72 hours of intercourse. You get two doses of the pill at a doctor's office or clinic and take them twelve hours apart, but you can only do this one time before each period. 75-89% effective. Other Methods Abstinence: No sex. What this means varies to different people, but there has to be no genital-genital contact. Even pre-ejaculatory fluids can contain enough sperm to cause pregnancy, so to be truly abstinent, you have to keep the girl-parts and boy-parts completely seperated. Obviously, it's 100% effective against pregnancy and STDs Withdrawal: Unprotected intercourse in which the guy pulls out before he comes. Again, the pre-ejaculatory fluids are enough to get you pregnant, and even then, there is a lot of room for mistakes and miscalculations in this method. It is 81-96% effective against pregnancy, but not reccommended. FAMs (Fertility Awareness Methods): This involves charting the woman's menstrual cycle and keeping meticulous track of her periods, as well as checking the temperature and cervical mucus daily. Knowing this, you have sex only on days when she's supposedly not fertile. HIGHLY NOT RECCOMMENDED FOR TEENS because periods and vaginal conditions can still be fairly irregular. 75-99% effective and not reccommended. Vasectomy & Tubal Sterilization: Cutting and tying your tubes. In men (vasectomy), the tubes to the testes are cut so that, while he can still become aroused and ejaculate, the ejaculate contains no sperm. In tubal sterilization, the Falopian Tubes are cut and tied so eggs can't travel into the uterus to become fertilized. After you get this done, it can't be corrected. 99.5-99.9% effective and not reccommended for teens. |
