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What actually separates the methods

The distinction that decides most of the choice, and the one nobody leads with.

Lesson 1 of 5

11 min Text

What this lesson says

  • Long-acting methods are fitted once and require nothing to be remembered
  • Pills, injections and condoms depend on something being done repeatedly and on time
  • That is why real-world effectiveness is lower than ideal-use effectiveness
  • Only condoms also reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections
  • Missing pills is not a failing — it is information about which method fits you

This is general education. It is not advice about your own situation, and it does not replace seeing a clinician.

Written lesson.
  1. 1. Methods are usually introduced by how they work. That is the least useful way to choose between them. What separates them in practice is how much they depend on you.
  2. 2. The implant and both kinds of intrauterine device are fitted once and then require nothing further to be remembered. Pills, injections and condoms all depend on something being done repeatedly and on time. That is the whole reason effectiveness in ordinary use is lower than effectiveness in perfect use, and the gap is much wider for some methods than others.
  3. 3. If you have found yourself missing pills, that is not a failing and it is not a character flaw. It is the clearest possible indication that a method which does not depend on remembering would suit you better, and it is worth saying to a clinician in exactly those words.
  4. 4. One method does something none of the others do: condoms reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections. Everything else on the list prevents pregnancy and nothing else, which is why condoms are often used alongside another method rather than instead of one.
  5. 5. The rest of this course covers suitability, what your body does in the first few months, emergency contraception, and what the public system provides.

All lessons in this course

  1. 1 What actually separates the methods 11 min Reading now
  2. 2 Suitability, and why it is a conversation rather than a counter 12 min
  3. 3 The first few months, and what your periods will do 10 min
  4. 4 Emergency contraception, and the windows 9 min
  5. 5 What the public health system provides 8 min

No lesson is locked. Ticks appear once you have an account, so that what you have read is yours and not this device's.