9 myths about how to avoid pregnancy

According to the World Health Organization, 26.5 million unwanted pregnancies occur worldwide every year due to inappropriate use of contraceptive methods.

Despite medical advances and the fact that birth control methods are increasingly accessible, unplanned pregnancies are still quite common. Not a day goes by without requests for advice also arriving on our site, from women or girls who are afraid of becoming pregnant, most of the time because they have not used any contraceptive method during intercourse. Often for misinformation, for wrong beliefs, or for fear of contradicting the partner.

Understanding how to safely prevent pregnancy is important to the health of all involved. Today, we have a wide range of family planning strategies available that allow people to have a healthy and peaceful sex life while avoiding unwanted pregnancies. There are barrier methods such as condoms and diaphragms, hormonal methods such as the birth control pill, the patch, the injection, the subcutaneous implant and the coil (IUD). I would like to underline that the only contraceptive method which at the same time allows to avoid the passage of sexually transmitted diseases between partners is the condom.

Myth 1: There is no risk of pregnancy if you have sex during your period

In general, women are less fertile during and immediately after their menstrual period. As a result, some people may think that this means they can have unprotected sex without having to worry about pregnancy.

However, this is an unreliable approach, let’s see why.

You may have some bleeding that you think is menstruation but really isn’t. For example, it could be bleeding that accompanies ovulation. In fact, some women bleed when they ovulate.

Even if a person has a fairly regular cycle, there is always the possibility that their body may decide to ovulate sooner.

If a woman is a Swiss watch with a 28 day cycle and has intercourse during menstruation the chances of conception are probably minimal because ovulation is going to happen 12-14 days later, but one must always keep in mind that the chance of ovulating in advance exists and should not be underestimated!

Spermatozoa can also survive on average up to 72 hours (in some cases they even reach 5 days) and an oocyte remains fecundable for 12-24 hours. This means that the window in which a person can become pregnant is much wider than one might imagine.

Myth 2: The douch does not prevent the risk of pregnancy

If a woman douches after intercourse, it does nothing to prevent pregnancy. Sperm cells are quite fast and once ejaculation occurs, the sperm cells arrive in the uterus in 20 minutes and the strongest and fastest ones arrive first and are also the ones most likely to fertilize the oocyte. The shower will wash out the sperm residues but many sperms will have already made their way into the uterus by then.

Myth 3: You can’t get pregnant if you have intercourse in a hot tub

It’s not likely, but it’s possible. Sperm doesn’t like heat, it’s true… but heat doesn’t kill everything. For this reason, once ejaculation has taken place in the vagina, hot or not, the best spermatozoa move quickly to climb into the uterus and then into the fallopian tubes, where they can fertilize a potential oocyte.

Myth 4: You won’t get pregnant if the man doesn’t ejaculate into the vagina (coitus interruptus)

In the male, orgasm coincides with the ejaculation of the sperm that contains the sperms.

Many people think that if the male does not climax during unprotected sex, there is no possibility of a pregnancy.

Before orgasm, the penis can expel pre-ejaculatory fluid which may contain viable sperms which can lead to conception

This is why coitus interruptus is not thought to be a reliable method of avoiding pregnancy.

Myth 5: If you track your period every month with apps, you don’t need to use contraception

Apps that track your menstrual cycle and count your fertile and infertile days are not a reliable way to prevent pregnancy.

According to   the Mayo Clinic, as many as 24 out of 100 couples who use this approach will have an (unwanted) pregnancy within the first year of unprotected intercourse.

The reason why these methods do not help to avoid pregnancy is that the length of a person’s menstrual cycle can vary from month to month and therefore the exact day when the egg is released from the ovary can always come sooner or later than usual.

Apps that calculate fertile periods can be useful for couples who wouldn’t mind becoming pregnant, while they should be avoided for all others.

Myth 6: The morning-after pill only prevents pregnancy if taken in the morning after intercourse.

In general, the morning after pill is effective but not 100%. Statistics say it can prevent 7 out of 8 pregnancies   when taken correctly 

If a person takes the morning-after pill within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, it is quite effective in preventing pregnancy, but the longer they wait, the more likely it is that conception will occur.

Also, if you have recently ovulated when you have intercourse, the morning-after pill may not work.

Myth 7: You can’t get pregnant in the first week of the pill because the hormones are already in circulation

When a woman starts taking the contraceptive pill, doctors may advise her to use extra contraception, such as a condom, during the first week of taking the pill. However, since some pills are declared effective immediately if taken within five days of the start of menstruation, many couples do not use condoms for the first week.

The problem this time lies in human error. During the first week of taking it it is possible to forget to take the pill, and this forgetfulness is part of the incorrect or inappropriate use of contraceptive methods mentioned in the declaration of the World Health Organization, which defines the incorrect use of birth control methods, one of the main causes of unwanted pregnancy.

Myth 8: You can’t get pregnant if you’re breastfeeding

In order for pregnancy to occur, the woman must ovulate. This process normally occurs during menstrual cycles but when a woman breastfeeds, her body increases the production of prolactin, which inhibits the hormones involved in ovulation. For this reason, many women believe that they cannot get pregnant while breastfeeding their baby.

However ovulation can resume at any time. It is true that breastfeeding fertility is decreased, but this is not to be considered a reliable birth control method. When a woman has her first period after giving birth (the foreman ) it means that about two weeks before she had ovulated and this ovulation cannot be predicted in advance.

Therefore, if you do not want children of very close age, it is good to talk to your gynecologist about a reliable method of contraception.

Myth 9: IUDs are not effective in preventing pregnancy because they cause infections

Although IUDs, also known as intrauterine devices (IUDs), have increased in popularity, some women worry that having a device implanted in their uterus for years will put them at risk of infection. According to experts, the risk is actually very low. The only exception might be during the first few weeks of just installing it. There is in fact an increased risk of pelvic infection during the first (2-3) weeks of coil insertion, once this period has passed, there would be no increased risk of infection.