Birth control or contraception is defined as the method by which the pregnancy is controlled or avoided to control the population at a domestic, national, or world level. Contraception is also called fertility control.
The population of the world has been increasing exponentially since the Second World War and especially after the beginning of the new millennium. World Health Organization has been working day in and day out to devise ways for decades by which the world’s population can be controlled and how these methods are made accessible and effective, especially to underdeveloped and developing countries.
They have succeeded quite well in bringing social awareness about the importance of birth control and family planning and achieved quite milestones in this field.
Methods of birth control
There is a long list of birth control methods that have been devised so far along with other natural methods of contraception. A new concept of family planning and birth control is to plan your family and the number of kids according to your resources and situation and decide on a method of contraception that helps you to achieve what is planned.
So, contraception methods are always different for each family and they are to be discussed with them by the doctor in detail educating them about the advantages, side effects, and failure or success rates.
Birth control chart
- The birth control chart we are going to discuss here is one of those awareness and education series in which all the methods of birth control with their description and failure rates are explained.
- Birth control methods or contraceptives may be hormonal and non-hormonal, and both have their own pros and cons.
- The most common types of contraception are birth control pills and injectables both are hormonal contraceptives and are mostly preferred by families. The tablets are taken every day which leads to compliance problems and a failure rate of 8%. Injectable contraceptives on the other hand are to be used every month or every three months with a failure rate of only 3%.
- Intrauterine contraceptive devices are again a very effective method with a failure rate of less than 1%. They are also common in use and are advised by doctors frequently. They are both hormonal and non-hormonal. However, everything comes with a price, if not inserted by an expert; they can lead to pelvic inflammatory diseases and infertility in some females.
- Condom either male or female condom is also very common with no side effects. Only the failure rate is too high which is 21%.
- Implants are inserted subcutaneously and are effective for five years. They are hormonal but very effective with a failure rate of only less than 1%.
- Male and female sterilization is the permanent method of contraception and it has specific indications.
- Other methods of birth control are spermicidal sprays, diaphragms, safe period method, coitus interruptus, cervical caps, emergency contraceptive pills, contraceptive sponges or patches, and the basal body temperature method.
