Preventing pregnancy is not as easy as it might sound. Every method of preventing getting pregnant has a chance, however slight, that you will become pregnant. Even the most aggressive birth control method, surgical sterilization, carries a small chance that you can become pregnant afterwards.

Natural methods of birth control are possibly the least reliable methods of preventing getting pregnant. Using the withdrawal technique is about 96% effective; using rhythm can be as little as 91% effective, or as high as 99% effective, depending on the individual woman and how exactly the method is practiced.

Barrier methods of birth control tend to be a little bit better in terms of preventing getting pregnant. Using a sponge is about 91% effective. Using spermicide alone or a diaphragm is around 94% effective. Using a male condom is about 97% effective, and using a female condom about 95%. Combining one of the other methods with spermicide can raise the effectiveness to around 99%, however.

Hormonal methods of birth control have some of the best statistics. Norplant, for example, is 99.91% effective. The Depo-Provera shot (sometimes called the Depo shot for short) is around 99.7% effective. Birth control pills are around 99.9% effective.

Even surgical methods of sterilization, such as vasectomy or having your tubes tied are not 100% effective. Having tubes tide leaves you with around a 99.96% success rate, whereas a vasectomy is closer to 99.5% effective.

There are two proven ways that are 100% effective at preventing getting pregnant. The first one is, obviously, abstinence. If you don’t have sex, you can’t get pregnant. Having a hysterectomy, in which your uterus is removed, is the only other 100% effective method of preventing getting pregnant. For many couples, however, neither of these options is particularly reasonable as a method of preventing getting pregnant. Having a hysterectomy as a method of birth control is also not recommended, and most health care providers will not agree to perform a hysterectomy solely for this purpose.

Posted in Pregnancy

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