The contraception

INTRODUCTION

All couples who want to have full sexual relations without a resulting pregnancy should use a method of contraception. A responsible sexual life is now possible. It should be planned for and, to make this task easier, a short review of the methods now available follows. There are many of them and they fall into easy, logical groups:

• Physiological methods - i.e. methods based on our knowledge of the physiology of reproduction, without interfering with the process as such.
• Barrier methods, which prevent contact of the spermatozoa and ova. They include intrauterine devices (IUDs), which stop the fertilization of the ova by spermatozoa.
• Hormonal methods, of which the Pill is the best known but not the only example. These methods act in three ways: they prevent ovulation, the implantation of a fertilized ovum and the progress of spermatozoa towards the ovule.These different methods of contraception are described in the following texts.