How Much Do You Know About Birth Control?
You have to take the morning-after pill before noon the next day to prevent pregnancy.
True
False
You have to take the morning-after pill before noon the next day to prevent pregnancy.
Despite the nickname, you have several days to take emergency contraception, or levonorgestrel, which you can get over the counter. You can take the Plan B One-Step brand or the generic version up to 72 hours later. Next Choice and Ella work for up to 120 hours afterward. Hormones in the pill keep your body from ovulating. You can also use it right after you have sex -- you don’t have to wait until the next day.
How do birth control pills affect your risk of cancer?
You’re more likely to get ovarian cancer but less likely to get cervical cancer.
Your odds of cervical cancer go up, but your risk of ovarian cancer drops.
They have no effect on either type of cancer.
How do birth control pills affect your risk of cancer?
The longer you take the pill, the more likely you are to get cervical cancer. But it can also cut your chances of getting ovarian cancer in half.
Once you hit 50, it’s safe to go off the pill without worrying about pregnancy.
True
False
Once you hit 50, it’s safe to go off the pill without worrying about pregnancy.
Doctors define menopause as 12 months in a row without a period. Until you hit that milestone, you could get pregnant. And if you’re on the pill, the hormones in it may be what’s causing your lack of periods, not menopause. Talk to your doctor.
Using a male condom and a female condom at the same time gives extra pregnancy protection.
True
False
Using a male condom and a female condom at the same time gives extra pregnancy protection.
It seems like two condoms would double the protection, but don’t do it. Using a male and female condom at the same time during sex boosts your risk of pregnancy. The friction between the two can rip or break them.
This method is most likely to result in a baby:
Pulling out before ejaculation (withdrawal method)
Diaphragm
Birth control pill
This method is most likely to result in a baby:
Even if you get the timing exactly right (which isn’t easy), pulling out leaves a lot to chance. The sperm in pre-ejaculation fluid can fertilize an egg even if the man doesn’t ejaculate. As many as 28 out of 100 women get pregnant using this method.
Add this for protection from sexually transmitted diseases:
Condoms
Spermicide
Emergency contraception
Add this for protection from sexually transmitted diseases:
Male condoms are the only way to lower your odds of getting diseases like gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV when you have sex with an infected partner. Doctors are trying to figure out how well the female condom works as a protection against STDs and HIV.
How long after sex can sperm live inside a woman’s body?
12 hours
3 days
30 days
How long after sex can sperm live inside a woman’s body?
Once they’re released into your body, they get cozy. They can hang around for up to 3 days in your reproductive tract. Even if you don’t ovulate until a couple of days after you have unprotected sex, you could still get pregnant.
You can’t get pregnant while you’re breastfeeding.
True
False
You can’t get pregnant while you’re breastfeeding.
It isn’t a foolproof birth control method. Only a few moms who breastfeed will ovulate by the time their baby is 6 months old. But more than half will be back in the egg-making business by the time Baby turns 1. At least half of those moms -- that’s about a third of all breastfeeding women -- have the right hormone balance to get pregnant.