What is birth control?
A: Birth control is a method or device used to prevent pregnancy.
Birth control has been used since ancient times, but
when did effective and safe methods of birth control became available?
A: In the 20th century.
Planning, making available, and using birth control is
called what?
A: Family planning.
Some cultures limit or discourage access to birth
control because they consider it to be what?
A: Morally, religiously, or politically undesirable.
The World Health Organization and United States Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention provide guidance on what?
A: On the safety of birth control methods among women with specific medical
conditions.
What are the most effective methods of birth control?
A: Sterilization by means of vasectomy in males and tubal ligation in
females, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and implantable birth control.
This is followed by a number of hormone-based methods
including what?
A: Oral pills, patches, vaginal rings, and injections.
Less effective methods include physical barriers such
as what?
A: Condoms, diaphragms and birth control sponges and fertility awareness
methods.
What are the least effective methods?
A: Spermicides and withdrawal by the male.
Sterilization, while highly effective, is not usually
what?
A: Reversible; all other methods are reversible, most immediately upon
stopping them.
Safe sex practices, such as with the use of male or
female condoms, can also help prevent what?
A: Sexually transmitted diseases.
Other methods of birth control do not protect against
what?
A: Sexually transmitted diseases.
Emergency birth control can prevent pregnancy if taken
within how long after unprotected sex?
A: 72 to 120 hours.
Some argue not having sex is also a form of birth
control, but abstinence-only sex education may increase teenage pregnancies
if offered without what?
A: Birth control education, due to non-compliance.
In teenagers, pregnancies are at greater risk of what?
A: Poor outcomes.
What does comprehensive sex education and access to
birth control do?
A: It decreases the rate of unwanted pregnancies in this age group.
While all forms of birth control can generally be used
by young people, long-acting reversible birth control such as implants,
IUDs, or vaginal rings are more successful in what?
A: Reducing rates of teenage pregnancy.
After the delivery of a child, a woman who is not
exclusively breastfeeding may become pregnant again after how long?
A: As few as four to six weeks.
Some methods of birth control can be started
immediately following the birth, while others require a delay of up to how
long?
A: Six months.
In women who are breastfeeding, progestin-only methods
are preferred over what?
A: Combined oral birth control pills.
In women who have reached menopause, it is recommended
that birth control be continued for how long after the last period?
A: One year.
About 222 million women who want to avoid pregnancy in
developing countries are not doing what?
A: Using a modern birth control method.
Birth control use in developing countries has decreased
the number of deaths during or around the time of pregnancy by how much?
A: 40% (about 270,000 deaths prevented in 2008) and could prevent 70% if
the full demand for birth control were met.
By lengthening the time between pregnancies, birth
control can do what?
A: Improve adult women's delivery outcomes and the survival of their
children.
In the developing world, women's earnings, assets, and
weight, as well as their children's schooling and health, all improve with
what?
A: Greater access to birth control.