Methods of birth control

Birth control
The sexual act always has the potential to result in pregnancy. Pregnancy makes major demands on the body and the mind of the woman. If she is not ready for it, her health will be adversely affected. Therefore, many ways have been devised to avoid pregnancy. The prevention of pregnancy is called contraception or birth control.



The methods used to prevent the occurrence of pregnancy are called contraceptive methods. These can be barrier, hormonal, chemical and surgical. The hormonal method can also be included under the category of chemical methods. The hormones are biochemicals and can be treated as chemicals to be used under chemical methods of contraception.



Surgery can also be used in order to remove unwanted pregnancies. These are sometimes used by people who do not want a child, e.g. illegal sex-selective abortion of female foetus. These methods contraception are summarised in the following paragraph.


Barrier method
   1)Condom
  • Rubber sheath worn over the penis to stop sperm from entering the vagina.
  • Prevents transmission of sexually transmitted disease (STD) and has no side effect.
    2) Diaphragm Intra-Uterine Contraceptive            Device (IUCD)
  • Rubber cup that is placed in the vagina over the cervix.
  • Copper-T placed in uterus by doctor.
  • Used to prevent pregnancy.
  • Can cause side effects due to the irritation of uterus.

Hormonal Method
   1) Oral contraceptive pills
  • Contain hormones,which prevent release of ovum, so that fertilisation cannot occur. These disturb the hormonal balance of the body.
Can cause side effects also.

Chemical method
   1) Spermicide
  • Applied in vagina.
  • Kills sperms.
  • Can only be used with condoms or diaphragm.

 Surgical method
   1)Vasectomy
  • Smmall portion of the sperm duct is cut or tied properly. Therefore, sperm transfer will be prevented.
  • An irreversible process.
   2) Tubectomy
  • Small portion of oviduct is cut or tied properly. The fallopian tube in the female gets blocked. The egg will not be able to reach the uterus and thus, fertilisation will not take place.
  • Prevents the egg from meeting the sperms.
  • An irresponsible process.