khronik
08-10-2007, 11:51 PM
A lot of people seem to be a bit misinformed as to the effectiveness of birth control. The best source I've found is the FDA's evaluation of several methods:
Pregnancy Rates for Birth Control Methods (http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1997/conceptbl.html)
Each method is rated by the percentage of women that become pregnant while using only that method over the course of a year. There are two numbers for each method, the chance of pregnancy if you do exactly what you're supposed to and the chance of pregnancy if you don't always. Both are important, since some methods are easy to mess up with. (pulling out for example)
There's some surprising information there. For instance, when always done properly, pulling out is only slightly less effective than condoms. Combined estrogen/progesterone pills are also 30 times as effective as condoms when used properly. Still, condoms are recommended the most because they reduce the risk of STDs the most.
Pregnancy Rates for Birth Control Methods (http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1997/conceptbl.html)
Each method is rated by the percentage of women that become pregnant while using only that method over the course of a year. There are two numbers for each method, the chance of pregnancy if you do exactly what you're supposed to and the chance of pregnancy if you don't always. Both are important, since some methods are easy to mess up with. (pulling out for example)
There's some surprising information there. For instance, when always done properly, pulling out is only slightly less effective than condoms. Combined estrogen/progesterone pills are also 30 times as effective as condoms when used properly. Still, condoms are recommended the most because they reduce the risk of STDs the most.