What are my options for preventing pregnancy?
There are many contraceptive methods to prevent pregnancy:
- Barrier or mechanical methods
- Hormonal methods
- Natural methods
Not all of them may be right for you. It is important that you get all the correct information so you can make the right decision for you.
You need to know how effective the methods are. For girls, the choice will depend on your health, some health problems mean you can’t use some methods. The choice will also be made according to the stability of your relationship, your personality, the cost, your tendency to follow the rules with a particular method--like taking a pill every day--the willingness of the boy to use a condom regularly and many other considerations..
Emergency Contraception
Yes, if you’ve had unprotected sex in the last 3 to 7 days, you can get emergency contraception so you don’t get pregnant. But the sooner you take this emergency contraception, the better it works to prevent a pregnancy. For more info, visit the section on contraception.
Other contraceptive methods
For full info on all the methods, visit the contraceptive section. You will find all you want to know on the following methods:
Barrier or mechanical methods:
- Male condom
- Female condom
- Cervical Cap
- Diaphragm
- Spermicidal Gel
- Intra-uterine Device (IUD)
Hormonal methods:
- The emergency contraception pill
- The Pill (contraception pill)
- Birth Control Patch
- Depo-Provera (injection)
- Cervical Ring
- Hormonal Intra-uterine Device
The natural methods:
- Abstinence
- Natural family planning
Abstinence means that you are not having sexual intercourse at all. Abstinence is the best form of protection against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STI’s). Abstinence is 100% effective if you avoid all sexual activities.
There is also something called outercourse. It includes different forms of lovemaking (oral sex, mutual masturbation) that don’t involve vaginal sex. This is a very effective method of preventing pregnancy as long as you make sure that any sperm stays far away from the vaginal area. However you can still get STI’s from oral or anal sex. But remember that a girl can get pregnant if her partner ejaculates close to her vagina, since sperm can still get inside her.
I had unprotected sex. What can I do so I don’t get pregnant?
Yes, if you’ve had unprotected sex in the last 3 to 7 days, you can get emergency contraception so you don’t get pregnant.
Unprotected sex means that:
- You didn’t use any birth control at all
- The condom broke or tore
- You missed two or more birth control pills in a row
- You were late for your birth control shot (depo-provera)
- You forgot to insert your cervical ring or to put your contraceptive patch in place
There are many situations where contraception can fail. Or simply, you can forget.
There are 2 main types of emergency contraception:
- Emergency contraceptive pills or the morning-after pills are more effective if you have had unprotected sex in the past 3 days. Some healthcare providers may even give it if you’ve had unprotected sex in the past 5 days. The sooner the better.
- A copper intrauterine device (IUD) can be put in place if you’ve had unprotected sex in the past 7 days.
Emergency contraceptive pills
You can get these pills from many different places: your health care provider, a youth clinic, a hospital emergency room, health clinics or a walk-in clinic. In many provinces, you don’t even need a prescription and can get them directly from the pharmacy. You do not need an examination but it is useful to talk to a healthcare professional for more detailed info.
The IUD
Within-7 days of unprotected sex, your doctor can insert an IUD to prevent pregnancy from happening. It can be left there for a long time since it is a very effective contraceptive method. So this method is recommended as emergency contraception if you choose to keep it, which is not often the case.
For more information on emergency contraception, visit the section on contraception. You will find all the info you need on this method.
Extra
If you want to learn more, you can go to these websites:
The Society of Obtetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada