Are condoms enough for protection during penetrative sex?

Question

Hello doctor.

I am 19 years old and do not want to get pregnant, but I also do not want to take oral birth control because of all the side effects. In addition, I cannot afford an IUD or patches. Do condoms alone provide enough protection for regular penetrative sex? What would you recommend in the aforementioned circumstances?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have gone through your history and understand your concerns. Condoms are 99.9 percent safe if used with all the precautions and guidelines. Combined oral contraceptive pills are safe to prevent pregnancy for a year or two. But suppose you want to prevent pregnancy for the next two years. In that case, you can also go for other methods of contraception like IUD (intrauterine devices) and Depo Provera (Medroxyprogesterone acetate) because long-term use of contraceptive pills is not recommended and may cause some side effects. Sometimes it may cause difficulties in conceiving. You can go for IUD for two to three years as the side effects are less.

Hope this helps.

Thank you.