Everything To Know About Contraception Before Your Wedding

Gone are the days when couples never planned anything before getting married about their life. Things are different now, nowadays couple plans everything before tying the knot. Whether it is about their career, relocating, shifting, or finances, the most crucial thing they plan is having a kid after marriage. It is not like the olden days when once you get married, it is absolutely compulsory to have kids within a year. The new generation take things at their own pace and to avoid having kids immediately after marriage, there are contraceptive methods that they can select from.

Once you both decide to be together and tie the knot, apart from planning your wedding, it would be wise to go to a gynecologist to discuss the physical relationship between you two. Sounds odd? But it is not, it help you prepare for your upcoming life after marriage. You might have decided to not have kids till a certain period, but till then how will you maintain healthy physical intimacy? Nobody can attend to all these queries better than a professional gynecologist. 

Practicing protected sex is always a good idea, not only to avoid unwanted or unintentional pregnancy but as well as sexually transmitted diseases. For this, the most common contraceptive method is to use condoms. But, we are here to tell you a bit more about contraceptive methods.

What is Contraception?

In simple language, contraception is a way to prevent the female from getting pregnant. It allows a physical relationship between a couple without any fear of unwanted pregnancy and other intimacy-transmitted issues. Different contraception methods work differently for different people and some methods are more effective than others. So, it is important to be aware of these methods so that you can apply them according to your health and the status of your relationship with your partner.

Methods for Newly Married Couples

As we mentioned earlier, the use of these methods is based on health status and situations like pregnancy planning, sexual desire, convenience, etc. 

1. Condoms

Condoms are the most common and safest way to protect you from unintentional pregnancy from having sex. It can also help in preventing you from getting STDs. Condoms are 82% effective for birth control and they can at times fail to prevent giving you protection. Things that can go wrong with a condom are not using it correctly, being broken while having intercourse, or being expired. 

2. Oral Contraceptive Pills

These are hormonal birth control pills that consist of some amount of estrogen and progestin to preserve the pregnancy. These pills can be started even before marriage according to your menstruation dates. OC pills are known to have a maximum success rate as they are lower in dose and that makes the hormone contraception lower. It is an easy and convenient, woman-controlled method and does not interfere with love-making. There is a regular monthly cycle often with reduced pain and bleeding. Newly married ladies are advised by their gynae to have them as per the schedule and situation. Though you should also know that the pills are unsuitable for women over 35 years or those with a family history of heart, and liver diseases, hypertension, diabetes, or unexplained vaginal bleeding. 

3. Copper T

Copper T or IUCD can be recommended as the first choice of contraception method for newly married who are not ready to have kids soon. This is a perfect method as it has very high efficiency and it lasts for almost 12 years. The procedure takes about a couple of hours and a plastic or copper tool is inserted in the cervix to prevent the fusion of eggs and sperm. Copper ions have spermicidal activity and are 95–98% effective. It does not interfere with love-making and the best part about the method is it is a long-term and easy way to avoid pregnancy and fertility can be restored once the Copper T is removed. 

4. I-Pills

I-pills or emergency contraceptives are the most effective way to prevent unplanned pregnancies. The pills need to be taken within 72 hours of having sex. Depending on the time of menstruation it is taken, it can prevent ovulation, fertilization, or implantation of the fertilized egg. It contains a high dose of a single hormone and research says that it is 95% effective within 24 hours of unprotected sex, 85% between 25 – 48 hours, and 58% if taken between 49 – 72 hours. But one of the side effects is that the consumption of this pill disrupts the hormonal balance in the female body.

5. Contraceptive Injections

Another safe way to avoid pregnancy is to take contraceptive injections that last for almost a month. In this method, the medicine builds a strong layer of mucus on the injected cervix, which hinders the entrance of the sperm. It is a 99% effective, easily administered method and suitable during lactation too. The side effects of injectables are menstrual cycle may become irregular, there will be a gain in weight, and the return to fertility may take time. Counseling and support are needed for women when this method is chosen.

6. Coitus Interruptus or Withdrawal Method

While having sex, the man can withdraw his penis from a woman’s vagina, when ejaculating. It is less effective at preventing pregnancy as the penis before ejaculation normally will contain sperms that can compromise the effectiveness of the method. This method requires willpower and self-control and the male has to always be in an alert position, which makes this method highly unreliable for the newly married couple.

7. Female Condom

Yes! Read that right! Female condoms are a vaginal pouch made of latex sheath, with one ring at each end. The closed-end ring is inserted inside the vagina and works as the internal anchor and the outer portion covers the external genitalia and provides protection. It is another form of women-controlled method and prevents the female from unwanted pregnancy and STDs. 

Conclusion

Before getting married knowledge of contraceptives and the different methods and side effects going to help you understand and plan your sex life healthily. Going to a gynecologist and talking about physical issues will only help you with the process and as we mentioned not every process works for everyone. A gynecologist will help you with all kinds of knowledge but before that, you and your partner need to come to the same terms.

Learn about what your other half is comfortable and to all the men, understand that women’s bodies go through a lot during these processes or without these processes. You cannot help her with the pain and the side effects but what you can do is make it easy for her by understanding and being there for her. Kids or not kids always remember having protected intimacy is not a bad thing, in fact you are helping yourself.