How to Avoid Pregnancy
Condoms
Condoms are inexpensive and widely available making them the easiest way to avoid pregnancy. Condoms should be worn from the start of intercourse not just for the few minutes before ejaculation. Condoms are available in a variety of sizes and materials. Female condoms are also available.
Condoms have an expiration date and tend to be sensitive to extreme heat and cold. Before using a condom, inspect the packaging to ensure the expiration date has not passed. If the condom appears damaged or brittle, do not assume it will help you avoid pregnancy. All it takes is the tiniest crack or hole in the condom to allow sperm to pass through and fertilize the egg, resulting in pregnancy.
Birth Control
Birth control is an on-going means to avoid pregnancy. Women are responsible for maintaining birth control by pill or shot, in most cases, as directed by the doctor. Birth control convinces the body it is pregnant so the uterine lining never prepares for the fertilized egg.
Birth control is generally considered safe though there are health risks associated with taking birth control to avoid pregnancy. Potential risks include blood clots and weight gain. Women over the age of 35 and women who smoke are at higher risk of complications from taking birth control.
Pill-based birth control is the most common. Women take a pill every day for three weeks. The pill contains hormones to fool the body into believing it is pregnant. If the body believes it is pregnant, preparation for pregnany will not occur, but this does not mean birth control is 100% effective. Taking the pill at the exact same time daily increases protection to avoid pregnancy.
Abstinence
The most effective means to avoid pregnancy is abstinence. Abstinence means avoiding intercourse or any physical contact that could initiate pregnancy.
Learning how to avoid pregnancy is the first step in family planning. Some couples choose to wait until they are financial stable while others simply want to plan the pregnancy to occur when they feel ready to be a parent. The only means to avoid pregnancy 100-percent of the time is abstinence.
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Published by Summer Banks - Featured Contributor in Health & Wellness and Lifestyle
Summer Banks is a medical assistant with four years college nursing education. She is a senior health writer for Dietspotlight.com and Featured Contributor in Women s Health, Parenting and Dating & Relations... View profile
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- Abstinence is the most effective means to avoid pregnancy.