femalenetwork.com

With the recent improvements in medicine, it's not impossible to run out of options for birth control. After all, rearing children in the present is even tougher than it was 20 years ago because of the rising cost of living.

Dr. Paul Ancheta, who heads the OB-Gyne group in the Medical City in Quezon City, is just one of the gynecologists who support Bayer Schering Laboratories' campaign for women's health. Together with other doctors, he speaks for the "Coffee in the City" program, a public awareness program that makes its rounds in key areas of the metro, including work places such as call centers.

"With good family planning, there's more food on the table for everyone, less chances for anemia and maternal mortality, prevented infertility, and lower risks of birth low birth weight deliveries," he said.

In his "Coffee in the City" lecture, Dr. Ancheta covered the available methods for birth control and its success and failure rates:

1. Chance - 85% failure rate
2. Withdrawal - 27% failure rate
3. Calendar - Not foolproof, and might also find the couple not having sex for three weeks in a month as it can also be painful without lubrication
4. Barrier (condoms) - 15% failure rate
5. Permanent: Sealing fallopian tubes - 0.5%, but can be costly and is hard to reverse; Vasectomy for men - 0.1% failure rate, difficult to reverse
6. Hormonal contraceptives - pills and patches, 99.7% effective rate. However, these are user dependent and should be taken everyday. Contraceptives can also control menstrual disorder, lessen dysmenorrhea, reduce acne and body hair, and control endometriosis.

And while contraceptives can also be prescribed for AIDS patients, Dr. Ancheta cautions patients that whatever form of birth control still doesn't prevent anyone from the disease. "It's still best for the couple to be monogamous," he said.

However, patients should also note that no contraceptive could work the same way for each patient. Proper dosage should still be prescribed by one's OB-Gyne, and not from recommendations of friends or family. Not all two women are the same, so before you think of taking pills or any forms of birth control, be sure to consult your doctor first!