After reviewing the most common birth control facts, faqs, and effectiveness now is the time to dive into the details of your birth control options! There are a few types of birth control options including hormonal, barrier and permanent contraceptives.
All “failure rates” listed in the following articles come from the Centers for Disease Control and take in consideration the “user-error” failure. That means the chance that the contraceptive won’t work, but also taking into consideration failure based on people using it wrong.
Hormonal Contraceptives
Pill – The most common hormonal form of birth control is obviously the pill. There are two kinds of pills. The combination pill or the progestin pill. The combination one contains both hormones progestin and estrogen while the progestin pill obviously only contains that one hormone.
Progestin is supposed to stop the sperm from reaching the egg because it thickens your mucus. While the estrogen is supposed to stop egg production.
You have to have a prescription to take the pill. Depending on the brand and your insurance the pill typically costs anywhere from $15 – 50.
Pros: After you take the pill you don’t have to worry about anything else as far as sex is concerned. For most people the pill is supposed to help reduce acne, and it can help regulate your period. If you take it perfectly {same time each day, and remember to take it every day} it actually has a failure rate as low as 1%. Progestin only pills are ideal for women who are breastfeeding because they don’t affect milk production. The pill also prevents PID, Ovarian Cancer, Endometrial Cancer and possibly against infections too.
Cons: You are supposed to take it every day at the same time. Most women have a hard time remembering and being that consistent, I know I did. My least favorite part is the hormones. Because they make your body think it’s pregnant {so it doesn’t get pregnant again}, it makes your body think it’s pregnant. For me, that means I get that “morning-sick” feeling. Even on low doses. Other cons that I personally experienced were weight gain and increased acne. It is also common to experience low sex drive and breast tenderness.
Failure Rate: 9%
There are reasons some women take the pill other than birth control. Here is a diagram from Guttmacher that breaks that down
Vaginal Ring – also known as the NuvaRing, contains both estrogen and progestin, which does the same thing as the pill {prevents sperm from reaching the egg and stops egg production}. This one is a plastic ring that you insert once a month. You leave it in for three weeks then take it out so you can have your period on that fourth week. You repeat every month.
You do need a prescription for the NuvaRing. It can cost anywhere from $10 – $120 each month.
Pros: It’s low maintenance – you don’t have to remember it every day, and it helps regulate your period. It is definitely a more convenient method than the pill.
Cons: I could never get over the fact that you have to put it in. That is just not something I’m comfortable with. Plus, I was always worried that it would fall out! I’ve only had one friend try this and she gained some weight while one this one. It can also cause side effects such as spotting, headaches, bloating, and breast tenderness. The ring has additional possible side effects of vaginal discharge or irritation.
Failure Rate: 9%
Implant – this one is similar to the progestin oral pill because the implant only contains the progestin hormone. It’s an implant, obviously, that gets inserted under your arm above the elbow. It’s normally on the side of the arm closest to the body. This one is inserted by a doctor and actually lasts for 3 years.
Pros: After it is inserted you don’t have to worry about it for 3 years! That’s cool. You can have it taken out sooner though if you want. Since it’s inserted by a doctor and doesn’t really move, it’s incredibly effective. Less than 1 in 100 women get pregnant with a hormone implant in place!
Cons: You have to have a doctor insert it. From all of the forums I’ve read, a lot of women experience irregular bleeding throughout the first year. If that happens then the doctor usually prescribes estrogen to counteract it… which means you’d have to take a pill too. I didn’t like that possibility. I’ve also read a few places that you shouldn’t choose the implant if you are severely overweight; apparently it just won’t work as well if you are. The cost is anywhere around $400 – $900.
Failure Rate: 0.05%
The Patch – just like a tobacco patch you can place this hormonal patch on your stomach, butt, abdomen or your arm. It lasts for 1 week. It contains both estrogen and progestin.
You do need a prescription from a doctor and it does cost around $10 – $80 every month.
Pros: This one is similar to the combination pill because it has both of the hormones and it is a little more convenient than the pill because you don’t have to remember it every day. I’ve also heard of some women scheduling with their doctor to use the patch continuously which would allow you to skip periods.
Cons: If you’re particularly at risk for blood clots, you might want to find a different method. The patch delivers 60% more estrogen than a low-dose pill, so you’re at an increased risk for dangerous blood clots. I’ve also read that it is common to cause skin reactions. Since it does have both of the hormones it’s very possible to see side effects like headaches, sore boobs, bloating and some spotting.
Failure Rate: 9%
Injection – also known as the “shot” is just an injection every three months of the progestin hormone. The shot helps prevent ovulation because the body thickens the cervical mucus and thins the endometrium. That just means that it helps keep the sperm away from the egg.
You do have to have a doctor give it to you every three months and it’s about $30 – $95 per injection.
Pros: There are a few pros to this one; obviously that it’s only every 3 months. That’s convenient and effective because it reduces the risk that you’ll forget it every day. The hormone progestin can reduce menstrual bleeding. I recently read an article by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and it said the shot may reduce the risk of uterine cancer and protect you from pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). That’s really cool.
Cons: The negatives are you have to go to your doctor every three months; that means a copay every three months. And the shots have been known to cause more irregular bleeding than the NuvaRing, Patch or the Pill (mostly for the first 6 months). Prolonged use can lower your bone density but it’s been said that your bone loss is reversible once you stop using it. The biggest negative is that it can take anywhere from 3 – 18 months to start ovulating again after stopping the patch. That means that if you want to get pregnant right away this is not the birth control option for you; it will take a while to get out of your system. I did read a few forums where women talked about weight gain and changes in their sex drive as well as extreme nausea, but I’m not sure the statistics of how many women experience those last three things.
Failure Rate: 6%
Emergency Pill – also known as Plan B
I do not believe in these. I personally feel these cross the line of appropriate birth control but nevertheless here are the facts: it’s used for an emergency contraceptive. It’s supposed to be a back up or addition to the birth control you are already using but most people use this as a “oops I messed up last night and wasn’t on birth control”. Either way, the pill is just a higher more concentrated dose of the estrogen and progestin hormones {the same hormones found in the regular oral pill. For best results you are supposed to take it within 72 hours of unprotected sex, but I’ve read a few articles that say it may work up to 5 days later.
There is also a copper IUD that a doctor can insert in your uterus as a method of emergency contraceptive. It has to be inserted 5 – 7 days after unprotected sex. It works similar to the regular copper IUD – it stops the egg from implanting on the uteran wall.
Pros: Well if you forgot or didn’t plan for a birth control option then this is a way to make sure you don’t get pregnant. It also works for situations like if your condom broke. The pill is available over-the-counter but you can only buy it if you are 18 or older.
Cons: The copper IUD one is around $500 and I don’t believe most insurances cover that. But that could’ve changed recently with the new insurance laws.
Now head on over to the details on other forms of birth control such as IUDs, Barrier, Natural methods, and Permanent methods!
