* More than nine in 10 women who are at risk of unintended pregnancy (women who are sexually active, able to become pregnant, and neither pregnant nor trying to become pregnant) are using a contraceptive method. [10]
7. How well do contraceptives work?
* Modern contraceptive methods are highly effective—so much so that nearly half (47%) of all unintended pregnancies in the United States occur among the small proportion (7%) of women at risk of unintended pregnancy who do not practice contraception. Women using contraceptives experience the following failure rates:
Failure rate: the percentage of women using contraceptives who will become pregnant during their first year of use, by method
| Method | % of women who will become pregnant, according to type of use | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect use | Typical use | ||
| Cervical cap | 18 | 28 | |
| Diaphragm | 6 | 16 | |
| Implant | 0.05 | 1 | |
| Injectable | 0.3 | 3 | |
| IUD (Copper T 380A) | 0.6 | 1 | |
| Male condom | 3 | 15 | |
| No method | 85 | 85 | |
| Periodic abstinence (calendar method) | 9 | 25 | |
| Pill (combined [estrogen-progestin] oral contraceptive) | 0.1 | 8 | |
| Spermicides | 6 | 29 | |
| Sponge | 15 | 30 | |
| Tubal sterilization | 0.5 | 0.7 | |
| Vasectomy | 0.1 | 0.2 | |
| Withdrawal | 4 | 27 | |
| (For sources, see reference 11.) | http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/sci_data/misc/type_txt/nsfgc88.asp Observation/question. If a woman can get pregnant 8% of the time during the first year of the use of a pill, do they reach 24% after 3 years? |
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If the same 21 girls take the pill instead and they are sexually active for 3 years then over three years time, there will be about 5 (or about 1/4) pregnancies.
These numbers are disturbing to me. I never thought to look at the cumulative error rate potential.
Giving advise individually may be okay but to say to a large group of women that these methods will stop pregnancies is a dangerous public message.