Contraception myths

[Aunt_Flo]

Whose heard of a myth about contraception?

The other day I was speaking to a friend about the pill. She said she had heard that your protection goes down during the first week of taking it, the last week of taking it, and the placebo week, leaving only one week when you’re protected!

I’ve never heard that – the pill is 99% effective with perfect use, and 91% effective with everyday use and, as far as I’m aware, as long as you take it successfully at the same time every day, you’re protected against pregnancy throughout the whole pill cycle, including the placebo week or sugar pill week.

What’s a myth, wive’s tale, or just something not quite correct that you’ve heard about contraception, like the pill, condoms, IUDs etc.? Where do you think people are getting this info from?

@nurse_nettie – any input into where this kind of misinformation starts, and how it spreads?

[Nurse_Nettie]

@aunt_flo Interesting question! It’s hard to know where these myths start. I’d guess it’s people trying to make sense of something that they only partly understand. Sometimes health care providers can actually be the source of the problem when they don’t take the time to explain things properly.

You’re right that there are heaps of myths about contraception… Check your knowledge here!

[tea]

@aunt_flo I guess the myths stem from misconceptions about sex and contraception due to a lack of reliable information! (Good thing we have play safe hehe)!

If one person believes their information to be true, whether it’s been fact-checked or not, then that can spread pretty easily without anyone giving it a second thought.

Similar to how information about the pope lying to everyone about the pill recently surfaced – people went along with the information for so long because it becomes the norm after a while. Similar to Chinese whispers I suppose?

@nurse_nettie what a good resource!! thank you so much!

[Catdog]

I’ve got a strange one. Well at least I think it’s strange. I know some people who believe in temperature as a form of contraception. They’ve explained to me that every time before they engage in intercourse they place a thermometer inside the vagina and if it’s below or above (I can’t remember which one) a certain temperature they believe they’re unable to conceive.

@nurse_nettie any science that backs this?

[Catdog]

Also forgot to mention that they’ve been doing this for over 2 years!

[tea]

@catdog Ooh interesting!! Yeah, would love to hear @nurse_nettie’s thoughts on this! I’ve seen some forms of natural contraception methods, through breathe monitoring? So maybe there’s some legitimacy to the thermometers? Sounds a little uncomfortable to me though.

[Nurse_Nettie]

@catdog this is a natural method of contraception & relies on taking your body temperature everyday upon waking. After ovulation your basal body temperature will rise by 0.2 to 0.5 degree’s celsius. Once the temperature has risen for 3 days on a row, then condomless sex is considered less a risk for pregnancy. It’s not 100% reliable & the failure rate is estimated to be up to 25%. It relies on being well organised & may be an option for women who’re unable to use other hormone or barrier methods of contraception. Click here for more info.

[Aunt_Flo]

Wow @catdog! It seems to be working for them!

Do you know why they made the switch, or started that method in the first place?

[GoldenRose]

I scrolled past a post today debunking a myth that I’ve actually heard before… it was about using two condoms! I think some people feel it will give them extra protection?

It said not to do it thank god because it actually increases the chance of breakage because of added friction. It also said not to use a male condom at the same time as a female condom because of the same reason.

[Aunt_Flo]

@GoldenRose I’ve heard of two condoms increasing the likelihood of the breakage, but I never thought that would include using the male and female condom at the same time – that’s interesting!

[Catdog]

@aunt_flo I didn’t want to pry too much so I’m not entirely sure. However, I think she mentioned that she had issues with hormone birth control and they didn’t like condoms.

@nurse_nettie Wow! I kind of laughed off this method when I heard about it. Amazed that there is legitimacy to this method.

I don’t think I would be organised enough to keep up with this method of contraception. haha

[Aunt_Flo]

@catdog no me neither! It sounds like a lot more commitment and effort than using a condom or hormonal methods.

[-_-]

@catdog @aunt_flo agree I can barely remember to take my multivitamins every day haha let alone my temperature. Condoms all the way for me because the pill and LARC aren’t suitable contraceptive methods for me

[EarthMama]

@catdog I have also had a friend who uses this method and it was coming from the perspective of wanting to all natural and minimal etc.
Agreed with @stephaniaaaah in the moment comfort and preventative makes most sense to me!

[tea]

@stephaniaaaah hahaha same!! that’s the exact reason why LARCs are my go-to

What about the myth of if someone is taking the pill there’s no need for a condom? Absolutely ridiculous, but I feel a lot of people still think this is okay?

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