Birth Control Methods - Know About Them!

Birth control is defined as the measures that are taken by an individual in order to prevent pregnancy or reduce the likelihood of its occurrence. Nowadays, many birth control measures are available in the medicinal branch in order to be chosen as a safe and reliable mode of birth control.

To control the chances of unwanted pregnancy is a matter for both men and women. Hence, different birth control methods are available separately for both men and women so as to prevent or decrease the chances of pregnancy.

Birth control measures for men
There are majorly four methods available for the males which are described below:

Outer course
The outer course is defined as performing sex without penetrating, i.e. the sex without penetrating into the vagina. This helps in preventing the sperms from entering into the vagina and hence, proven to be an effective method for controlling pregnancy. This method does not exert any side effects and causes no changes in hormonal balances.

Condom
Most of the population uses condoms and it is the best way to prevent the individuals from Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) as it prevents the contact of skin. Condoms are the thin layered stretchy material containing latex that is used to cover the penis in order to prevent the semen from reaching eggs by collecting the semen while performing sex.

Withdrawal
In this method, also known as pull out method, the male withdraws his penis just before ejaculation. It helps in preventing sperms from entering into the vagina and therefore preventing pregnancy. It is not the reliable method as pregnancy can occur even if the withdrawal of penis is done on time.

Vasectomy
It is the permanent birth control measure and completely effective. It is a surgical procedure in which the vas deferens tube that is responsible for carrying sperms are blocked or closed. Therefore, the sperm could not be ejaculated and absorbed in the man's body.

Birth control measures for women
It can be done using various ways such as:

Birth control pills
There is a lot of promotion being done through social media regarding the use of birth control pills to prevent pregnancy. There are a variety of birth control pills. These pills are a combination of estrogen and progesterone or simply the composition of one of these two hormones. These pills have to be taken regularly to prevent pregnancy and different types of pills have a different working mechanism.

Fertility Awareness-based methods
These methods are useful in keeping track of ovulation. A woman is highly likely to get pregnant during the ovulation period. It helps women to keep her away from vaginal intercourse during the ovulation days or using preventive measures such as a condom or some other measure for birth control. It can be done using various methods such as cervical mucus method, temperature method and calendar method.

Emergency contraception
Also called as the morning after pill, it is one of the safest and most reliable methods to prevent pregnancy once having unprotected sex. So, if you aren’t using any birth control measure during sexual intercourse, you may use this as the birth control measure.