Transcript: Behavioral methods of birth control rely on couples adjusting their sexual practices to reduce the chances of an unplanned pregnancy. These methods are advantageous in that they are free and require no prescription. Withdrawal is a method of birth control whereby a man pulls his penis out of the vagina before ejaculation. This can prevent pregnancy by keeping a sperm from meeting the egg. Unfortunately, 30 percent of people who rely on the withdrawal method conceive anyway.  This is because even pre-ejaculate can cause a pregnancy. It also takes a LOT of self-control for a man to pull out at the height of pleasure, particularly if he is prone to premature ejaculation. Some couples rely on behavioral “fertility awareness methods,” or FAMs. These depend on a woman tuning in to her body’s ovulation cycles and refraining from sex on days when she is likely to release an egg.  Before a couple can use FAMs, they must understand that a man’s sperm can live in a woman’s body for five or six days. A woman’s egg, meanwhile, survives for one day after release. There are several ways to determine if a woman is ovulating, one of which is called the temperature method. A woman’s body temperature rises minutely—between 0.4 to 0.8 degrees—on the day she ovulates, and remains elevated until her period. A couple is less likely to conceive between three days after the temperature rise to the day it falls again. A woman’s body temperature rises minutely—between 0.4 to 0.8 degrees—on the day she ovulates, and remains elevated until her period. A couple is less likely to conceive between three days after the temperature rise to the day it falls again. Other couples use the calendar method, where the woman charts her menstrual cycles and abstains from sex on the days she’s likely to be fertile…usually the five days prior to, day of, and day after, ovulation. Other FAMs include the standard days method, whereby a woman uses a special string of beads to chart ovulation, and the mucous method, where she monitors vaginal discharge to determine when conception is likely. While each of these FAMs can work, they are only about eighty percent effective, assuming the methods are followed strictly. Human error and other common factors can contribute to the failure rate.  This is because ovulation can be altered by even slight stressors, like illness or diet alterations. In addition, most women don’t ovulate at the same time every month, and charting fertility patterns consistently requires much dedication! Because behavioral methods other than abstinence have such a high margin of error, they are NOT recommended as primary means of birth control. In addition, none of the behavioral birth control methods (with the exception of abstinence), offer ANY protection against another common result of intercourse: sexually transmitted diseases. Intercourse can easily result in conception, so couples who don’t wish to have a child should use birth control when being intimate. Talk to your doctor about the method that’s best for YOU.