So how many of you have seen this study that says withdrawal is a more reliable method of birth control than we give it credit for? It comes from the Guttmacher Institute , which for those of you who don't know, is definitely one of the leading research bodies on sexual and reproductive health. The study compares pregnancy rates for couples using withdrawal for birth control versus those using the male condom. And it found that the rates were almost the same!
But does that mean we'll all run out and start relying on withdrawal as a method of birth control?
I know I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable depending on the old "pull out" method to make sure I wouldn't get pregnant -- it just seems like there are too many things that could go wrong. Plus, I have mixed feelings about promoting it as a method. On the one hand, I know as well as anyone that hormonal birth control isn't for everyone. On the other hand, withdrawal is risky, and leaves a lot of room for human error. Plus, it in no way protects against STDs! But would it be patronizing to not let people decide for themselves? Or are we doing people a disservice by promoting it? What do you all think?
Crossposted to PPNYC's Unrated Unfiltered blog . If you're interested, further reading on how to find the best birth control for you; top ten contraception myths ; and whether or not you'd trust a boyfriend to take the male birth control pill .
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I've heard this before from somewhere. But I wonder why it doesn't give a statistic for imperfect use. Or did I miss this? How many couples who use it actually get pregnant? Would it be close to the imperfect use statistic for condoms? If couples feel they can practice perfect use, then it should be up to them how much risk they want to take that they might become pregnant.
I think the article says with imperfect use, 18% of couples using withdrawal get pregnant.
It's definitely not the safest form of birth control, but used in addition to birth control pills, I don't see what the issue would be (you know, so long as there are no STIs in the equation).
Of course, there's always pre-ejaculation to worry about (something I was never taught about- thanks to my non-comprehensive sex ed class).
you know what, my Our Bodies Ourselves books says that pre-cum doesn't actually have sperm in it. It's just a myth....
wonder if that's true
I think that's what this study just proved.
Withdrawal works about as well as abstinence. It does work, but almost no one does it perfectly for an extended period of time.
It's interesting that you would raise the question as to whether a man can be relied on to take a birth control pill. It seems to me that the pull-out method also places a lot of trust in the man. I've yet to meet a man I would trust that much.
Well, I'd say to put the facts out there and let people decide for themselves if it's right for them.
Well, withdrawal didn't work for my parents. Hi, everyone! *waves*
I've never been sexually active, but the thought of withdrawal in conjunction with another form of contraception crossed my mind.
I'm trying to think why withdrawal was so successful for the people surveyed for this study, and I came up with this. Couples who are using withdrawal might also be using the rhythm method. They might be more careful about not having sex while the woman is ovulating, when withdrawal is least likely to work. When people are using condoms, they don't worry about pregnancy, so they're more likely to have sex when the woman is ovulating.
*sighs dejectedly*
Yes, it would be lovely if teens were taught in school about things like how to figure out if we're ovulating.
But we're not. At least, I wasn't, and I had "comprehensive" sex ed as part of my semester-long health class (and it was not really that comprehensive, just "abstinence is safest, but if you have sex, use a condom" pretty much, and "STIs are icky").
Which brings up another question:
How do we define comprehensive sex ed?
Simply telling kids that abstinence or a condom is a safe choice, or truly comprehensive education involving birth control, women's cycles, distancing from hetereonormativity, male self-control as well as female, etc.?
I went to an all girls, Catholic high school, and we were taught the Rhythm method senior year in our "Christian Marriage" class (I know, don't barf- it was a required course).
We were also taught about other types of birth control- at least, those of us whose parents didn't object to such an un-Catholic practice (they spent a few classes in the library doing some exercises the teacher assigned them). I'd estimate that roughly a third of the girls didn't attend those classes. We were given permission slips to take home, which our parents signed and indicated if we could or couldn't attend those classes.
After our teacher taught us about barrier methods, hormonal methods, and the IUD (which, back then, prevented pregnancy through the use of copper, not hormones) the mother of one of the students in our class (one of the girls who spent a few classes in the library, of course) came in to teach us about the rhythm method. Since it is the one form of birth control with the Pope's seal of approval, the other students we back in attendance.
She told us how to use the calendar method to predict when we're ovulating; something about basal temperatures; and about vaginal mucus (which supposedly is thicker during ovulation). I don't remember the details exactly, because it was about 20 years ago. But the funny thing about it was that she had 6 kids (five daughters and a son- none of them twins). It may have been because she and her husband wanted to have such a large family, but I doubt it.
The rhythm method is not what you think it is. Relaying on a calendar to guess the next date of ovulation is a bigger crap shoot than withdraw method. The fertility awareness method (FAM) is the non-barrier, non-hormonal tracking of the menstrual cycle.
No way. Condoms are pretty much a godsend because they help prevent pregnancy AND STIs. Withdrawal does not do that. But Condoms tend to work better with the pill, or the implant etc. I'm just super paranoid.
"But Condoms tend to work better with the pill, or the implant etc. I'm just super paranoid."
Says who?
IGNORE WHAT I JUST SAID. I thought that said "THAN the implant" not WITH.
It's an interesting study, but I can tell you from the man's point of view, whatever our best intentions might be, the LAST thing your body is telling you to do when orgasm is approaching is "pull out." The most diligent, sincere, and well meaning male is still fighting his body's reflexes in that situation, and it's not exactly a moment when thinking is precisely at its clearest, is it? Seems to me like ANY use of withdrawal is "imperfect use" in the long run, and possibly even in the not so long run.
Yeah, I'm not a man but if I were I think I'd rather use condoms than withdrawl. Only advantage I see with withdrawl is that it's free. I know of someone who used it but she was okay with the idea of a second child.
I also think from a (het side of bi) womans point of view that it may be hard to fight her impulses as well. How does a woman orgasm in a pull-out scenario? It seems too sporadic for much female enjoyment.
And wouldnt withdrawal be a bit messy? I can see if he withdrawled while having a condom on, but without, where would it all go?Is he supposed to hold it till he can grab a towel?((eye roll)) Yeah, thats keeping it hot in the bedroom. I think it would be too much of a hassle.
Depends on what you're into. That didn't even occur to me as a problem, but I really like facials.
If you're so grossed out by it that you can't just wipe up after, then how do you have sex? Bodily fluids are going to get involved eventually.
Oh man, how badly my partner and I want to be able to rely on the withdrawl method! Even if we were confident that we knew our bodies well enough, I'd still be nervous about practicing it.
Well I think it is much easier to do "perfect use" with a condom than the withdrawal method. I personally don't understand why "imperfect use" condom effective rates are so low. I guess people are getting it on while high or drunk or something 'cause it's not that difficult to use them every time.
and i don't understand when people say they break all the time...do people not know how to put them on correctly?
I'm not sure how they define imperfect use, but since even *abstinence* has a failure rate on those charts, it seems like maybe they're saying "out of the people who intend to use condoms, 15% get pregnant" not that 15% of people who actually put on a condom every single time end up getting pregnant. Like maybe if you always use condoms and then one time you're drunk and you don't put on a condom, you still count under the failure rate for imperfect use of condoms?
Yeah "imperfect use" means you're not using condoms all the time, but I guess I was still surprised that it was high 'cause I figured you would only slip up once or twice in a year when not sober but the imperfect use rates suggest people decide to get it on when sober. but then again with those couples who may use them infrequently it skews the number.
It only takes one slip-up to count as one of the couples that got pregnant that year despite intending to use condoms.
Sure, but as someone else mentioned, when a condom break it's pretty obvious, and most likely won't happen right when the guy is going to ejaculate. This is just my opinion, but I think the imperfect use is so high because the majority of it is probably 'cause the couple just didn't use a condom that time.
oh, nevermind, i see what you're saying. you're right, it's true.
Condoms do break. Not all the time, but they do break. There's a variety of reasons (too much friction, etc) ... my partner and I always use condoms (we like the nice visual reminder that we don't want kids yet ... plus, I have a 'no sex without condoms until we're married' rule) and there's a breakage about once every nine months or so...
I know condoms break, in my experience it's about 1% of the time, that's why I addressed it to those people who say "all the time."
*sheepish* Well, my husband and I use this method. Knock on wood, it's been nearly five years, and no baby.
My body can't tolerate pills, we hate condoms...so maybe we're playing with fire, but it's working so far. Though, I am looking into IUDs now. We'd like to just not worry about it.
I think the key to this method is to, you know, withdraw. I wonder if some guys lie about when they are coming and pull out too late.
Me too. I've been with my partner for 3 years and we've used the pull out method every single time. I've never been pregnant.
My friend's sister got pregnant in high school using this method, so ever since then I have not trusted it. I just think it leaves a lot of room for the man to make an error. My bf and I used this method along with me being on the pill for a while cause I was paranoid about getting pregnant and there were plenty of "accidents". Of course, when we used condoms there were plenty of times when the condom broke too. The good thing about a broken condom though is that it is usually really evident. If your partner starts to ejaculate into you while pulling out or just a little before pulling out (and we had both these experiences) sometimes only he knows.
I got pregnant on this method.
Hey, this is as good a time as any to ask, can anyone here point me to a good (detailed and accurate, for our purposes) overview of the side effects that hormonal birth control has for women? Every source I have consulted so far - both people and print - has had a different story, some of them diverging radically from one another. I figure if anyone can point me toward the real scoop - with documentation, preferably (I AM an academic, why fight it) - it would be the Feministing Community.
I'm in a monogamous LTR, and I use the pull-out method in addition to an IUD. I would never be comfortable only using the pull-out method, even if a study tells me that it's as good as condoms. I don't know why, but there's something about that latex barrier that makes me feel secure, even if we don't use it anyway because it reduces stimulation.
I don't trust myself or my IUD; I don't check the strings as often as I should. Hence the desire to supplement this with pulling out.
I do, however, trust my boyfriend, and his lack of desire to either have children or watch me suffer through an abortion. I would not recommend pulling out to someone with a partner they don't fully trust.
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