Today in class Andrew mentioned controversy over the risk of certain birth controls, and it got me thinking how effective is the pill?

The pill is a type of birth control to prevent pregnancy in the form of hormonal contraception.  According to WebMD “hormonal contraceptives “stop the body from ovulating” and “change the cervical mucus to make it difficult for the sperm to go through the cervix and find an egg.”  Basically, the pill stops ovulation and makes it less likely the sperm will fertilize an egg.

I found quite a lot of websites claiming some birth controls are better than others.  Obviously, if you are reading a certain brands website and it claims their birth controls website “is the new super pill”, one must beware of the possible industry bias.  Every birth control has pros and cons, and it is important for each individual to find one that works best with her unique body type.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention explains the effectiveness of the pill is critical as it is what protects people from unwanted pregnancy.

“The best way to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy among women who are sexually active is to use effective birth control correctly and consistently.”

Planned Parenthood stated the following:

“Less than 1 out of 100 women will get pregnant each year if they always take the pill each day as directed. About 9 out of 100 women will get pregnant each year if they don’t always take the pill each day as directed.”

So if you don’t take the pill as specifically as directed you have a higher risk of unwanted pregnancy.  I’m wondering just how correct and consistent must we be to assure the least possible risk?

Most sources I found said something similar to the Center for Women’s Health.

“If you take the Pill at the same time every day (perfect use), it’s more than 99% effective. This means that if 100 women take the combination pill every day, less than 1 woman will become pregnant in a year.

Perfect use can be difficult for both teens and adults. That’s why it’s often considered 92% effective. This means that if 100 women use the Pill, but don’t take it perfectly, 8 or more women will become pregnant in a year.”

So, for “perfect” birth control pill use, one must take it at the same time every day.  Multiple sources (two of which I have mentioned) report the absolute risk of unwanted pregnancy with “perfect use”  is 1%, but if you miss a day or take it late that absolute risk increases to 8%.

As I am sure most of us already know, abstinence is the most effective form of birth control.  If you don’t have sex there is a zero percent chance you will get pregnant, unless of course you are Jane the Virgin or the Virgin Mary, but those are obviously both anecdotes.

The birth control pill helps to prevent unwanted pregnancy, but it does nothing to protect against sexually transmitted diseases.  Multiple sources reported condoms as the most effective way to prevent the spread of STDs.  This is what Comubia.edu had to say:

“Studies done on heterosexual sero-discordant couples — where one partner is HIV-positive and the other HIV-negative — show that HIV was transmitted in zero to two percent of couples who correctly and consistently used male condoms for both vaginal and anal sex. With typical use, the HIV transmission rate increased to between 10 and 15 percent.”

So, what can we learn from this?  Perfect birth control use is extremely important in reducing the risk of unwanted pregnancy and unwanted sexually transmitted diseases.