Since puberty, men and women are capable of reproducing, but in most cases it depends on the will to have children. For this reason, there are mechanisms that enable couples to have sexual relations without getting pregnant. We’re referring to temporary methods or definite surgical procedures that can control unwanted pregnancies.
Contraception methods
There are natural or cycle-based methods, which are based on the female menstrual cycle. The objective is to determine which days the woman is ovulating. On those days, the couples practice sexual abstinence.
There are also methods that measures base temperature or the consistency of cervical mucus. Another way is the barrier method, which physically blocks the encounter between sperm and ovum.
A few well-known forms of barrier contraception are the vaginal diaphragm, intrauterine devices (IUD’s) and the condom (a sheath of latex worn on the penis that prevents semen from entering the vagina).
Other methods use chemical substances capable of altering the reproductive process, including spermicides (creams or gels applied to the vagina that kill sperms) and birth-control pills (synthetic pharmaceuticals that contain a number of hormones to prevent ovulation).
