another sex tutorial - CONTRACEPTION

another sex tutorial

	Contraception The ovulation testing pack is a completely new method of natural family planning that allows you to enjoy making love without using any contraceptives on most days of your cycle. The pack includes a personal monitor that checks your urine samples and analyses them to indicate the days of the month on which you are likely to get pregnant. You should use contraceptives if you wish to make love on those days. The pack is 93-95 per cent reliable and very easy to use. Natural family planning, by contrast, requires meticulous record keeping and iron self-discipline. It involves charting your temperature day by day throughout the menstrual cycle to discover the period of ovulation, during which you must abstain from sex. Any unpredictable irregularity in the cycle can carry the risk of pregnancy. The Pill is up to 99 per cent reliable. It allows for completely spontaneous lovemaking. The freedom it gives is of enormous psychological benefit in any relationship. The Pill also regulates the menstrual cycle and reduces period pain and heavy bleeding in many women. Mild side effects occur in some women who take the Pill, but they usually disappear after a few months. They may include nausea, headaches, and depression, weight gain and some bleeding between periods. If side effects persist, the doctor or clinic will usually recommend a change of contraception. Before your doctor prescribes the Pill, he or she will ask for your medical history, including incidence of thrombosis in your family. The health risks involved in taking the Pill are slight when compared to the risks of pregnancy and childbirth. The combined Pill contains synthetic forms of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, which interfere with the woman's regular 28day menstrual cycle. In a woman who is not taking the Pill, production of the sex hormones fluctuates during the cycle, and it is this fluctuation that triggers ovulation. When the Pill keeps the hormone level artificially constant, the signal to ovulate is cancelled out. The same happens during pregnancy, which is why overlapping pregnancies do not occur. Anyone who smokes heavily may be at risk of thrombosis, smokers and those who are over 35 are often advised not to take the combined Pill. The progestogen - only Pill is not, as sometimes assumed, a low dose Pill, but one containing a single hormone, progestogen. It has the effect of thickening the secretions in the cervix, which makes it difficult for sperm to pass. It can be taken by breast feeding mothers, unlike the combined Pill, which suppresses lactation. The condom is 85-98 per cent effective as a method of contraception. Condoms work by preventing the sperm from getting to its destination, and they do not interfere with the body's chemistry. The condom is also the key to safe sex as it protects against all sexually transmitted diseases. For more details about condoms and how to use them, see page 128. Caps and diaphragms act as a contraceptive by forming a barrier across the neck of the womb (cervix), which prevents the sperm from reaching and fertilizing the egg. A good fit is crucial. You need to be examined by your doctor or family planning clinic so that the right-sized cap or diaphragm can be chosen, and you can be shown how to insert it. A cap or diaphragm should always be used with a spermicide. This combination has been found to be a 95 per cent safe contraceptive. Smear a little spermicide on to the diaphragm and around the rim, to facilitate insertion. Squeeze the diaphragm into a boat shape and insert it as you would a sanitary tampon, opening the lips of the vagina with one hand. When the rim rests behind the pubic bone at the front and the dome covers the cervix at the back, it is in place. Doctors recommend that you should not leave the diaphragm or cap in place for longer than 24 hours, but you should wait for at least six hours after intercourse before removing it. Remember that spermicide will be effective only for about three hours, so you will need to put more into the vagina if you have intercourse after the diaphragm or cap has been in place for that length of time. When you remove the diaphragm or cap, wash it carefully in warm soapy water and allow it to dry in a warm place, or pat gently with a towel. The female condom is as effective as other barrier methods. It lines the vagina and has an inner ring that sits over the cervix and an outer ring that lies flat against the labia. The female condom is made of colorless odorless polyurethane. The woman pushes the condom up inside her vagina before intercourse, and afterwards removes it and disposes of it. Like the male condom, the female condom is not reusable. It comes ready lubricated for easy insertion and no spermicide is necessary. Female condoms are made in one size only and will fit all women. During intercourse, it is a good idea for the woman to guide the man's penis into the condom to make sure it does not enter the vagina outside the condom. As the female condom is loose fitting, it will move during sex, but you will still be protected, because the penis stays inside the condom. To remove the condom after sex, simply twist the outer ring to keep the semen inside, and pull the condom out gently. The I U D (intra-uterine device) or coil is a small plastic and copper device that is inserted into the womb to prevent conception. Only a doctor trained in family planning can do this. The IUD comes compressed in a thin tube, which is slid through the cervical canal into the uterus and then withdrawn, leaving the IUD to spring into shape. Thin threads hang from the IUD about 3cm/ 1 inch into the vagina, and these can be felt with the fingers to make sure that the device is still in place. To remove an IUD, the doctor pulls the strings with a specially designed instrument. Depending on type, IUDs are usually replaced about every five years. The IUD is reckoned to be 96-99 per cent effective as a contraceptive, although it is not clear exactly how it works. Many women like it because it allows both partners to be spontaneous in their lovemaking. However, it does not suit everyone. Some women experience discomfort and bleeding for a few hours or days after the IUD is inserted, and one in four women have to have it removed because of acute pain and heavy bleeding. Sometimes an IUD may fall out; this is more likely to happen during a period than at any other time, and this is why it is important to check regularly that the thin strings are still inside the vagina. Contraceptive injections may be given with a drug that contains hormones of the progestogen type. An injection is needed every 8-12 weeks and is a virtually 100 per cent reliable contraceptive. However, it often has a disruptive effect on a woman's menstrual cycle, making periods more frequent or even disappear altogether. Return of regular periods may be delayed for up to a year after the last injection. Contraceptive implants release a hormone into the bloodstream. The implants are small, stick-like and pliable, and are inserted under the skin of the inner upper arm by your doctor or clinic in a simple, almost pain free procedure. They cannot be seen. The effects will last for up to five years, and although the implants can be removed at any time, the body will not be free of the hormone for a short time afterwards. Implants are more than 99 per cent reliable, although they may make periods less regular or disappear altogether. These side effects may settle down after several months. Emergency contraception is also called the 'morning-after Pill'. This last-resort method can be used if intercourse has taken place without contraception or if the usual method has failed, say in the event of a burst condom. It may also be prescribed to a woman after a sexual assault. It can be given up to 72 hours after intercourse and is 96-99 per cent effective.I The danger of AIDS, young people often had sex with a new partner without a condom, particularly if they had been drinking. It is important to remember that AIDS is much more dangerous to your health than pregnancy, and unlike pregnancy, there is no way that the disease can be terminated. The message is clear: anyone who engages in casual sex or is having sex with a new partner should use a condom even if contraceptive protection is provided by the Pill. Women as well as men are recommended to carry condoms with them. Clean bodies are generally more appealing than dirty ones, though the smell of a lover's sweat can have aphrodisiac qualities. Bathing is not always practicable or desirable, but you should always wash the genitals and anus before sex, to protect against infection, to increase the enjoyment of your partner and to give self confidence. Soap and water are all that is needed. Deodorants and perfumes kill the body's delightful natural scents, and they also taste unpleasant. Vaginal deodorants can be positively harmful, destroying the micro-organisms in the vagina that protect against disease. Always wash anything that is inserted in the anus, as anal sex carries the highest risk of infection. MORE INFORMATION ON AIDS HOW TO USE A CONDOM

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