ORAL CONTRACEPTIVE PILL
The pill is a means of preventing ovulation, or egg release, thus making conception impossible. It became available as the result of the development of certain chemicals that be- have in a woman's body like the hormones that control the reproductive cycle. The pill is highly effective in avoiding conception when used exactly directed. As an example, one type requires that a woman take the first dose on the fifth day of her menstrual cycle and continue a daily dose for twenty consecutive days. One to three days after she has taken the last tablet, menstruation begins and the count starts again. The pill is considered reasonably safe in terms of health. In a small minority of women, it produces undesirable side effects. If you are considering using this method of preventing pregnancy, you should do so under the close supervision of your doctor, who will prescribe the tablets, warn you of possible side effects, and help you to be prepared to cope with them.
OTHER METHODS OF BIRTH CONTROL
These consist of douches, suppositories, jellies and creams, and coitus interrupts, all of them unsatisfactory in varying degree. Douches are intended to wash out or kill the sperm before conception can occur. Since it is usually impossible to wash all sperm from the vagina, emphasis is placed on killing them by chemical means. Often, sperm have already reached the uterus before a woman has a chance to wash out the seminal fluid. By then it may be too late. Women may find it disturbing to douche immediately after intercourse, a time when they may want most to relax.
As we have noted previously, in most women sexual feelings do not end abruptly and they want, and need, some relaxation and affection after coitus. We advise avoiding use of advertised douches containing chemicals such as creosol or hypochlorite. Except on a doctor's prescription, we think it best not to use anything except a little salt or vinegar in a douche. So-called feminine hygiene douches are not effective for contraception and are not necessary for cleanliness. Suppositories are capsules made of gelatin or cocoa butter which contain a sperm-destroying chemical ingredient.
