Warning!

This article is best suited for married couples who are ready to start and plan their families or nursing mothers. Only they are qualified to know what to do to prevent pregnancy because they deserve to engage in sexual activities especially since the repercussions might be unbearable for the unmarried folks who engage in such (unwanted pregnancies, abortions, life threatening complications that might result from harmful use of contraceptives, sexually transmitted infections and AIDS). I am in no way encouraging sexual activities outside of marriage.

To properly overcome your fear of or desire to avoid pregnancy you have to understand how pregnancy is caused and what factors ensure that it happens. Pregnancy occurs after fertilization which is the union of the male sex cell sperm with the female sex cell, the ovum. The female sex cell is released once during her fertile period in every woman’s menstrual cycle in a process called ovulation. Intercourse during this period could lead to pregnancy.

The factors that ensure pregnancy occurs are;

• Fertilization when an active sperm is fused with an ovum after ovulation
• Intercourse involving direct genital contacts during ovulation between a fertile male and an ovulating woman
• Non use of an effective contraceptive prior to, during or after intercourse

Here are a few tips for you to use in order to avoid getting pregnant;

1. The Use of natural family planning or natural birth control techniques

a. Sexual Abstinence

The most reliable method which is by far the best and most inexpensive method is sexual abstinence. You will definitely not get pregnant if you abstain from sexual intercourse and do not face forced or other forms of nonconsensual sexual activities, best of all it doesn’t have any complications following it.

b. Fertility Awareness methods.

These methods refer to the use of body signs of fertility to estimate the likelihood of sexual intercourse leading to pregnancy within the period those signs are noticed. Of these methods the billings system is the most common. The billings system involves the use of ovulation cycle as a determinant of fertility and hence an indication of safe and unsafe periods for intercourse. While on one hand, it is claimed the billings method is 100% effective in preventing pregnancies by its proponents it however is not so easy to learn and requires a lot of dedication to understand and implement. Its benefits include being hygienic with no side effects whatsoever and also the fact that it is inexpensive. The Billings method uses four body signs namely; Menses, Dryness, Pap and Eggwhite to determine the peak (last day of definite slipperiness of vaginal mucus preceding ovulation) of every fertile human female. While menses indicate that ovulation has occurred without fertilization, dryness indicates infertility. The pap is the vaginal mucus experienced during dryness and it is characterized by not being slippery, by breaking and being very cloudy. Presence of eggwhite mucus (which is very slippery, nearly always stretches and is clear or cloudy but not as cloudy as pap) on the other hand indicates that a woman is fertile and could soon start ovulating. A woman must avoid intercourse during the peak and 72 hours after the peak in order to avoid getting pregnant.

Another Fertility awareness method is the rhythm method which uses menses as a yardstick for identifying safe and unsafe periods for intercourse. However this method is known for its high failure rate with teenagers and breastfeeding mothers and hence is not very effective in preventing pregnancy.

2. Artificial methods

The artificial methods of family planning refers to any methods involving the use of chemicals or artificial incisures into the ovaries that either prevents ovulation from occurring or destroys sperm cells released into the vagina after ejaculation or other barriers which prevent semen from mixing with fertile vaginal mucus or prevent fertilization. They refer to any unnatural methods especially with the use of chemicals like biocides, spermicides and other contraceptive devices like intrauterine contraceptive devices better known as (IUCDs or IUDs) and condoms. They could also refer to non penetrative sexual methods and withdrawal methods as well as sterilization.

a. Physical methods

• Withdrawal: This is a penetrative sexual method also known as interrupted sex that involves the removal of the penis from the vagina during intercourse just before ejaculation (when semen is released). The problem with this method is that it is not well understood by many men and might not be an effective method of preventing pregnancy.
• Non-penetrative sex such as oral sex, heavy petting and anal sex are virtually effective in preventing pregnancies.
• Use of condoms. There are two kinds of condoms; the more common male condoms and the female condoms. Both condoms act as barriers preventing semen from mixing with vaginal mucus.
• Inter urinary methods: involves the placing of a T shaped device called the IUCD or IUD into the uterus. The IUDs are of two kinds; those that contain copper which kills sperm cells in the uterus and those that release progesterone (a hormone used in contraceptive drugs).
• Sterilization: is a permanent method for preventing pregnancy and often times involves a tying of the fallopian tubes or blockage of the tube. Sometimes the fallopian tube may be clamped with an IUD or even cut to prevent semen from reaching unfertilized eggs in the ovaries. This process is called tubal ligation.

b. The use of chemicals to prevent pregnancy/hormonal method

Certain chemicals can also be used to prevent pregnancy such as oral contraceptives “like the pill”, the patch and the contraceptive vaginal ring better known as NuvaRing and also progestin (a synthetic progestogene) sometimes known as the progesterone only pill (the POP or 'minipill').

Also possible is the use of periodic injections like Depo Provera every three months and Noristerat known by it technical name Norethindrone acetate given as an intramuscular injection every 8 weeks), and contraceptive implants like Implanon is widely used in the United States. Lunelle which is injected every month is a kind of combined contraceptive pill. Warning the use of progestin only methods could cause irregular bleeding.

See also other methods for preventing pregnancy like hormonal emergency contraception and copper intrauterine devices which must be inserted into the uterus within 5 days after intercourse. Taking Progesterone only Pill in high doses after unprotected sex is also permissible for use within 72 hours.

Personally I only recommend the use of the billings method as the best family planning method for those who wish to start and plan their families.