Contraception
Contraception is the name for the act of pregnancy prevention. There are four key areas of contraception:
Hormonal
Progesterone and oestrogen are the commonest uses of contraception. They work by inhibiting the normal hormonal cycle of the menstrual cycle. They are available for women to take in 3 different ways:
Combined oral contraceptives
How it works: Known as the pill, this is a mix of oestrogen and progesterone, taken every day for 3 weeks, then stopped for one.
How good is it: Taken properly, the pill has a failure rate of around 2/1000 women years. Taken badly or irregularly, it is much less effective. Because it is absorbed in the stomach, if the woman has any GI problems or is ill, it can be poorly absorbed.
Problems: Women report weight gain, nausea, headaches and breast tenderness. It can also (rarely) cause:
- Blood clots, and related cardiovascular events, such as strokes, DVT, MI, PE.
- Migraine
- Hypertension
- Cervical carcinoma
Intra-uterine
Barrier
Rubbish
There are many other forms of contraception, such as "family planning" and "the rhythm method". Most of them are highly unreliable, and are listed below, in order of effectiveness:
- Withdrawal: -4%
- Being stupid: 6%
- Smoking: 10%
- Ugliness: 25%
- Being welsh: 28%
- The Rhythm Method: 40%
- Self inflicted genital mutilation: 73%
- Cancer: 82%
- Being gay: 100%