Also called family planning.
Exercise of deliberate choice over when one will conceive and bear a child, in this sense also called family planning. In a wider sense, birth control also refers to the social goal of limiting family size and therefore population growth by limiting conception. In addition, birth control refers to the various methods for preventing undesired pregnancies.
The use of contraception or sterilization (male or female) to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Prevention of conception or implantation of the fertilized ovum, or termination of pregnancy. Methods of birth control may be temporary and reversible or permanent. Temporary methods to avoid conception include physical barriers (e.g., male and female condoms, diaphragms, cervical caps, and vaginal sponges) that are most effective when used in conjunction with chemical barriers (such as spermicidal vaginal suppositories, creams, jellies, or foams). Hormonal methods include oral contraceptive pills and progestin implants to suppress ovulation. Fertility awareness methods, such as rhythm, involve identification of and abstinence during ovulation, graphing basal body temperature and changes in cervical mucus consistency and estimation of the day of ovulation. Intrauterine devices (HID) prevent zygote implantation. Sterilization techniques include male vasectomy and female tubal ligation. Sterilization usually is permanent but may be reversible.
Methods adopted to prevent conception before, during, or after engaging in sexual intercourse. Today, the method by which birth control is achieved or attempted ranges from consumption of pills to utilization of chemical and physical barriers, including vasectomy and sterilization, to the method still advocated by the Roman Catholic Church of limiting intercourse to days of the month when the woman is not fertile. In the whole history of contraceptive methods, some smack of pseudoscience.
Population control refers to the practice of restricting the number of children born, both on an individual level and within a population as a whole. Family planning empowers individuals, both men and women, to make informed decisions about whether and when to have children. Contraception plays a crucial role in preventing unintended pregnancies and enabling individuals to exercise control over their reproductive choices.
Contraception, regulation, or prevention of pregnancy. Occlusive methods. The male may wear a rubber sheath or the female may use an occlusive rubber cap over the neck of the womb, either with or without sperm-killing pessaries, to prevent the male sperm from fertilizing the female egg. Oral method. In this method, the woman takes hormone pills in order to prevent an egg cell from maturing in the ovary. The whole subject is unsettled from many points of view. Some doctors are not certain that it is harmless, and controversy still rages as to whether it can produce phlebitis or be conducive to the later formation of cancer. There are also objections to the method on religious and social grounds. The “safe” period. This is defined as the two or three days before the onset of the menstrual period during which the female is unlikely to conceive. In order to arrive at what is the “safe” period, it is necessary to do extensive calculations and these can only be done if the woman knows with precision when her periods are likely to start. If she is at all irregular the calculation is impossible.