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Illustration by Casey Ferguson |
Contraceptive choice
offers degree of safety
Loraine German
Mesa Legend
Nearly 60 percent of the pregnancies among teenagers in the United
States are unintended and almost one-half of them occur despite
the use of contraceptives.
There are two kinds of contraceptives available to women who choose
to protect themselves - hormonal contraceptives and non-hormonal
contraceptives.
Hormonal contraceptives work by preventing the release of an egg
from the ovaries into the uterus, and may also make the uterus an
inhospitable environment for sperm.
The hormonal method used by most women is “the pill.”
This oral contraceptive is 99 percent effective in protecting against
pregnancies. There are a variety of pills available and different
brands contain different dosage strengths. A prescription is required
for this method and the pill must be used without interuption.
According to Planned Parenthood’s Deborah Jackson, other hormonal
options include: the patch, vaginal ring, a progestin-releasing
intrauterine device, and contraceptive injections. All of these
methods are 99 percent effective. However they do not protect against
STDs.
Hormonal contraceptive methods do have a list of side effects including
nausea, headache, tenderness in the breast area, weight gain or
loss, spotting between periods and in rare cases, blood clots, heart
attacks and strokes.
Non-hormonal contraceptives prevent pregnancy by providing a barrier
against sperm, or by interfering with sperm movement, and since
they do not use hormones, they do not interfere with the natural
reproductive cycle.
The most used non-hormonal method is the male condom. The male condom
is 97 percent effective, and is the only contraceptive method that
protects against STD’s. This method is also popular because
no prescription is required to gain access to it.
As part of the non-hormonal options there are also vaginal barriers
and permanent methods available. The vaginal barriers are the diaphragm
and the cervical cap with 94 and 84 percent effectiveness, respectively.
For both of these methods, spermicide must be used each time to
ensure protection.
The permanent method offered for women is surgical sterilization
and is 99 percent effective.
A surgical alternative for men is the vasectomy, in which a doctor
cuts or ties off the two tubes (vas deferens) that carry sperm out
of the testicles.
A vasectemy has a one-tenth of a percent chance of failure, and
there is a two percent possibility of natural recanalization, explained
Jackson.
All of these methods have a chance of failing, according to Jackson.
“We put all of our focus in letting our patients know that
the only method 100 percent effective is abstinence, anything other
than this can get them pregnant.”
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