Contraception methods and effectiveness

Contraception

Since the beginnings of human civilization, men and women have wanted to be able to choose when and whether to have children. Contraception has existed for thousands of years because people needed a way to stop having children when they weren't ready to have them.

The methods to which the ancient scholars refer fall into three general categories:

those that seemed reasonable at the time but are now known to be ineffective (wiping out the vagina after intercourse);

the reasonable and perhaps effective (e.g., using honey, pepper, alum, or lactic acid as pessaries and barriers; the unreasonable, manifestly ineffective, such as the woman holding her breath at the time of ejaculation or jumping backward seven times after coitus. The manufacture of vaginal pessaries from the dung of animals, such as crocodiles, elephants, or mice, perhaps reflects Freudian more than pharmacologic concerns, although as Himes points out, most animal dung is alkaline. Among descriptions that come close to certain modern methods of contraception are Jewish references to "cohabit with a sponge."(Pots and Campbell, 2002)

Many ancient forms of contraception were not that good and dangerous at the same time. There still are some methods which exist today and have been incorporated into current birth control methods:

abstinence has been an effective form of contraception.

A vaginal suppository. Various substances (like honey and vinegar) were inserted into the vagina, since the acidity aided in killing sperm.

A the male condom. It was developed in 1562 to stop the spread of venereal disease. Originally called the male sheath, it was made from a lubricated linen cloth. Later versions were made from goat bladders, animal intestines or blowfish intestines.

For many years, birth control information has been limited due to religion as religion and the whole society at the same time were totally against it.

Today there are a lot of new methods of contraception which are, of course, more effective and more secure. Some of these methods are:

hormonal methods of contraception - when we speak about hormonal methods of contraception we usually refer to: the pill, patches, injections, and implants. The pill is a small tablet that usually contains a combination of two sex hormones and it is one of the most usual methods of birth control used by women.

A barrier methods are contraceptives that prevent the passage of fluids from one person to another. When we speak about barrier methods we refer to: condoms, cervical caps, diaphragms, sponges, and dental dams. Two of them are recommended agents of STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection) or HIV transmission prevention: dental dams and condoms

Centchroman is a "Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator, or SERM. It causes ovulation to occur asynchronously with the formation of the uterine lining, preventing implantation of a zygote. It has been widely available as a birth control method in India since the early 90s, marketed under the trade names Centron® and Saheli®. It is not legally available anywhere outside of India, and it is not in the process of becoming available in the United States" (Birth control, Wikipedia, 2006) intrauterine methods- women that are looking for a birth control method that they can use and forget it may want to consider the IUD. This intrauterine device is a simple form of birth control that has very few side effects and can be used for 10 years. The use is popular with women that don't want to use any chemical or prescription birth control methods.

A emergency contraception - most combined pills may be taken in high doses to prevent pregnancy after a birth control failure (such as a condom breaking) or after unprotected intercourse. Hormonal emergency contraception is also known as the "morning after pill," even if it can be used up to three days after intercourse.

TEST

Test your knowledge on different types of contraception and what their properties are and then speak about these problems:

1. Three contraception methods that women used to use in the ancient times: