A Guide to Birth Control Options

Pregnancy can be a wonderful thing - for those that are planning on it. If you don't want to, pregnancy can be a traumatic and stressful time and can lead to some difficult choices and consequences. The best way to deal with this is to not get pregnant in the first place. To do this, you want to know your birth control options the best that you can. Knowing which birth control options are the best and most effective is the key to avoiding an unwanted pregnancy.

Probably the most popular of birth control options are male condoms. Using male condoms have some of the highest rates of prevention among all birth control options. Using male condoms with a spermicide will virtually guarantee protection from unwanted pregnancy. Male condoms are widely available and generally inexpensive, though some people complain that they hinder sexual pleasure. Female condoms are a little less available and aren't quite as effective of as male condoms or other birth control options.

One of the most popular birth control options is "the pill", a generic term to denote all birth control pills. These are taken by a woman everyday to prevent ovulation. While there are a variety of birth control pills, many of them have have unpleasant side effects. On the other hand, the have a very low failure rate and are a pretty simple as far as birth control options go.

An IUD is very effective as one of the birth control options. IUD is an acronym for intrauterine device. It is a flexible plastic that a doctor will install in the uterus. Doctors disagree as to whether it prevents the sperm from fertilizing the egg or if it keeps the egg from attaching itself to the uterus. However, they both agree that out of the available birth control options, it is the most effective at preventing pregnancy. Historically, IUDs were very dangerous to a woman's health and led to many infections and other complications. In the present day, IUDs are much safer, but still carry some of these risks. They also have been linked to heavier cramping during ovulation.

Out of all the birth control options, the only one with a one hundred percent chance that no unwanted pregnancies will occur is abstinence. No matter how good other birth control options might be, none of them are as effective as simply not engaging in sexual intercourse. Being away of all available birth control options will help you have a healthy sex life. Just remember that not all birth control options also prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.