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Contraception
Introduction
Birth control which is also known as contraception is designed to prevent pregnancy in women. Contraception or birth control methods are used all over the world in order to prevent any unexpected pregnancy. This can be done in a variety of ways by using different types of drugs, devices, sexual practices, agents and also by using any agents along with surgical methods. All these methods have been proved quite beneficial in order to prevent unwanted pregnancy in individuals. Contraception or birth control methods enable people to choose that when they want to have kids. There are various methods of contraception and each method varies from the other in their effectiveness. Among all the methods two of the main types of contraception are the most effective which are hormonal and barrier methods. In case of the hormonal method of contraception, there are certain types of hormones which are introduced in the body in order to make it act differently some of these hormones stop the woman to release egg completely while other hormones make it difficult for the sperms to reach the egg which is released. In case of the barrier methods, the sperms are prohibited to reach the egg that is released by stopping the sperms as soon as they are released. Although there are different other methods of contraception but these two methods are commonly used and effective (Mosher and Jones).
Critique
In the recent era the high use of contraception techniques has cut down the number of total maternal deaths by 40% over the past 20 years and it is done by reducing the unintended pregnancies by 20%. With the advancement in technology, there are now many various methods of contraception that are used widely used by couples in order to prevent pregnancy. Having said that there are many elements that should be considered by young couples in order to decide that which contraceptive methods they are going to adopt because there are fair chances that if one method suits one person it may not be effective for another person. These elements which should be considered by couples include safety, effectiveness acceptability and also the availability of the method. The second most important thing which should be kept in mind by the couples while choosing the available methods of contraception is the protection against the simultaneous risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Although the hormonal method of contraception is effective against pregnancy prevention they are not effective against protecting STDs which also includes HIV.
As discussed earlier the hormonal methods are the ones which are the most effective and also readily available method of pregnancy prevention. There are various methods of hormonal contraception. Which include
Implant
The implant is mainly a thin rod which is majorly inserted under the skin of the woman's upper arm. This rod contains progestin which is basically released in the body for a time period of 3 years. It is a highly effective method and the failure rate of this method is 0.01%. However, Mosher and Jones reported that in most of the people it causes severe allergic reactions inside the body which affects the overall menstrual cycle and also the reproduction system of the individual.
Injection/Shots
In this particular method of contraception, women are basically injected in their buttocks or arms after three months from their doctors. In this method once the hormone is injected in the body it prevents the chances of pregnancy either by preventing the sperm to the egg or by preventing the egg to be released in either way this is the most effective and safe method of contraception and it is used widely among the individuals of every age and till date there is no particular health risk that is reported because of injection or shots (Cooper and Rotimi)
Combined Oral Contraceptives
This is also called as the pill; this method is a combined contraceptive method which contains the hormone estrogen and progesterone. The pills are mainly prescribed by a doctor and these pills must be taken at the same time each day. However in some exceptional cases such as when the mother or woman is addicted to smoking and also she has a history of blood clots and breast cancer then the doctor can ask the woman not to take any pills. There are some drawbacks of taking pills on a woman but it is also true that the cases are not similar in all, these pills result in swollen body and also high blood pressure is also reported in some women. Cooper and Rotimi, reported that pills should only be taken by the women after serious consultation with the doctor because these pills may cause some reactions inside the body of the individuals (Cooper and Rotimi).
Most of the women reported many health hazards in the body after taking pills and other hormonal methods of contraception and various healthcare providers also reported that these methods are not very safe due to the reaction that takes place inside the body after taking these hormonal shots. Therefore the barrier methods were presented as an alternative to hormonal methods. Because these barrier methods only present barrier they do not make any changes inside the body of the individuals. There are various barrier methods that include
Cervical Cap or Diaphragm
These barrier methods are placed inside the female reproductive organ in order to cover the overall lining of the cervix so that the sperms are blocked and they are unable to reach the egg. It is shaped like a shallow cup. Before any sexual intercourse, these are inserted with a spermicidal in order to completely block or kills the sperms. Meeting doctor is mandatory in this case because these cervical caps come in various sizes. However, there is some 17% failure rate of this method because in many cases even after using diaphragm pregnancy was reported as compared to hormonal methods.
Sponge
The sponge contains spermicidal and it is placed inside the vagina where this sponge fits better on the cervix. It can work better up to 24 hours and it must be left inside the female reproductive organ for a period of 6 hours after the last sexual activity. However Clieland et al., reported that although the hormonal methods of contraception offer many health risks as compared to these barrier methods they are one of the most effective methods of birth control when they used by a proper discussion with the doctors.
Although it is legally allowed to control the birth rate because the population is increasing and the resources are getting limited but there are some ethical concerns that revolve around this topic. There are many religious scholars who think that it is a sin to control birth as it is more like playing with God. Therefore this topic is not vastly discussed among the individuals and there are many women who feel shy and face many health problems because they are not allowed to discuss this topic openly.
Conclusion
Birth control is now trending all over the world in order to control the population of the world. Although there are some ethical issues that revolve around this method but having said that this is one of the most widely used methods in order to control unexpected pregnancies. There are various methods of birth control which are discussed in this paper and every method has its own pros and cons and it should be kept in mind that these methods should be used after discussing them in detail with the doctor because if one method is effective in one woman it is not necessary that the same method is effective in others as well therefore before using any of the methods they should be discussed with the doctors.
Work Cited
Cleland, Kelly, et al. "Emergency contraception review: evidence-based recommendations for clinicians." Clinical obstetrics and gynecology 57.4 (2014): 741.
Cooper, Danielle B., and Rotimi Adigun. "Oral Contraceptive Pills." StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing, 2017.
Hohmann, Heather, and Mitchell D. Creinin. "The contraceptive implant." Clinical obstetrics and gynecology 50.4 (2007): 907-917.
Mosher, William D., and Jo Jones. "Use of contraception in the United States: 1982-2008." Vital and health statistics. Series 23, Data from the National Survey of Family Growth 29 (2010): 1-44.
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