How Effective is Birth Control
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Video Description:How well does your birth control work? Whether you use a condom, take the birth control pill, or do nothing, this video tells you what percent chance you have of getting pregnant.
Transcript:Anytime you're getting busy in the bedroom, there's a chance you'll conceive. So, if you're not ready for that kind of a threesome, consider contraception carefully. Before you get hot and heavy, you should know that only abstinence provides a 100% guarantee that you won't get pregnant. Since you probably won't choose that option, you should know how good your birth control method really is at preventing conception. The effectiveness of any form of birth control is measured by something called the “birth control failure rate,” which tells us, on average, what percentage of couples using that birth control method will get pregnant during a full year of use. For example, if a contraception method is 90% effective, 10% of all women using that form of birth control would become pregnant over the course of a single year. But “effectiveness” is a tricky word, because many people make mistakes when they use birth control-like forgetting to take the Pill, or pulling out too late while using the withdrawal method-that can reduce the success of their contraception method. That's why the effectiveness of most birth control methods is reported in two ways – effectiveness when used perfectly, and a “real” effectiveness rate, which is based on how people actually use it. According to the FDA, hormonal methods of birth control have the best rates of success. The Pill, for example, has a 99.1-percent effectiveness rating with perfect use, and a 95% rating with standard use. An intrauterine device, which is place in a woman's uterus by a doctor and therefore has not “standard use,” has over a 99% effectiveness rating. The hormonal shot, which is also administered by a doctor is 97.7% effective. Similarly, the hormonal implant, like Norplant, which is inserted by a doctor, is always 99.9% effective. The male latex condom is 97% effective if used perfectly, but only 86% effective with typical use. The diaphragm is 94-percent effective with perfect use, and 80-percent effective with standard use. When used alone, spermicide is 94-percent effective if applied correctly, but only 74-percent effective based on actual use. Natural methods, like withdrawal, are not particularly effective at preventing pregnancy. The withdrawal method is 96-percent effective with perfect use, but only 81-percent effective with typical use. And, if you choose to forgo birth control altogether for a full year, there is an 85 percent chance that you'll become pregnant! Measuring the effectiveness of birth control in a single use is harder, because the likelihood of a woman getting pregnant varies dramatically throughout her menstrual cycle. Nonetheless, you can get an estimate of how effective one of these methods is for a one-night stand, by taking the annual failure rate and dividing it by 50. For example, if you use a male condom, here's the math: The male condom is 86% effective annually, so it has a 14% annual failure rate. Divide 14% by 50, and you get .3%. So, all other things being equal, if you use the male condom the way it's typically used, your chances of getting pregnant are less than 3 in 1,000. Whichever method of birth control you choose, there is still a chance that you'll get pregnant; and remember – many forms of birth control offer no protection against STDs.
Category:Birth Control/Birth Control Options
Tags:birth control, contraception, condoms, birth control pill, unwanted pregnancy, diaphragm, condom, spermicide, birth control failure, safe sex, broken condom, birth control statistics, sex health, sexual health
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