Family Planning Method

There are several family planning methods available for couples not wanting to get pregnant. Each method offers different advantages. Understanding your options will help making the right choice for your family planning needs.  

1. Natural family planning does not use any sort of chemical, medication or device to prevent pregnancy. Instead intimacy is scheduled around a women’s cycle to avoid fertile time span. A women tracks her monthly cycle and follows the fertility signs her body puts off to know when it is not a good time to have sex with her partner. The natural family planning method is 78 to 88 percent effective.
2. Barrier methods use devices to stop sperm from entering a women’s uterus to fertilize a potential egg. One way is to place a condom over a man’s penis or insert a diaphragm inside a women’s vagina. Both block the sperm’s access into the uterus. A cervical may also be used for the same results. The barrier method alone is 71 to 85 percent successfully. For better success a spermicide may also be used.
3. Women have the option of oral birth control pills. Tiny pills are taken each day to prevent pregnancy. She may also opt for the birth control patch, which is worn on her skin, or the birth control ring that is inserted into the vagina. They all use nearly the same medication to prevent pregnancy and once a couple decides to forge ahead in having children, simply stop using birth control.  Overall this family planning method is 92 percent effective.
4. Depo-Provera is an injection family planning method. Women are given a shot every 3 months as a form of birth control.  The shot is nearly 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy.
5. Internal uterine device, also known as an IUD, is inserted into a woman’s uterus by her gynecologist. An IUD can prevent pregnancy for up to 10 years and is up to 99 percent effective. The IUD works well as a family planning method, because when children are desired the woman can return to her gynecologist to have it removed.  
6. Sterilization is an extreme family planning method. Both men and women can choose to surgically sterilize themselves to prevent pregnancy. For men, a vasectomy is performed as an outpatient surgery. The tubes that move the sperm from the testes to the urethra are cut, preventing any sperm from entering the man’s ejaculate. Women are sterilized by cutting the tubes between the ovaries and uterus; this is called a tubal ligation. . A tubal ligation requires the women to spend time in the hospital and recover. In most cases sterilization is extremely effective.