Preventing pregnancy is not as easy as it might sound. Every method of preventing getting pregnant
Natural methods of birth control are possibly the least reliable methods of preventing getting pregnant. Using the withdrawal technique is about 96% effective; using rhythm can be as little as 91% effective, or as high as 99% effective, depending on the individual woman and how exactly the method is practiced.
Barrier methods of birth control tend to be a little bit better in terms of preventing getting pregnant. Using a sponge is about 91% effective. Using spermicide alone or a diaphragm is around 94% effective. Using a male condom is about 97% effective, and using a female condom about 95%. Combining one of the other methods with spermicide can raise the effectiveness to around 99%, however.
Hormonal methods of birth control have some of the best statistics. Norplant, for example, is 99.91% effective. The Depo-Provera shot (sometimes called the Depo shot for short) is around 99.7% effective. Birth control pills are around 99.9% effective.
Even surgical methods of sterilization, such as vasectomy or having your tubes tied are not 100% effective. Having tubes tide leaves you with around a 99.96% success rate, whereas a vasectomy is closer to 99.5% effective.
There are two proven ways that are 100% effective at preventing getting pregnant. The first one is, obviously, abstinence. If you don’t have sex, you can’t get pregnant. Having a hysterectomy, in which your uterus is removed, is the only other 100% effective method of preventing getting pregnant. For many couples, however, neither of these options is particularly reasonable as a method of preventing getting pregnant. Having a hysterectomy as a method of birth control is also not recommended, and most health care providers will not agree to perform a hysterectomy solely for this purpose.