## 1. Contraceptives

How would you like to get pregnant this year or If a man or woman does not want children, he/she or her/his partner can take measures to prevent conception. This is called contraception.

Some means are more reliable than others. Below we list a few of them:

Condom, Pill, Nuvaring and IUD

The most commonly used contraceptives are different types of condoms and the pill. There are also the nuvaring, an implanon and the IUD. How can you prevent an unwanted pregnancy? And how can you prevent STDs?

Slide a condom over the erect penis. The condom traps the sperm cells.
It also protects against venereal diseases.

The female condom is placed in the vagina. It stops the sperm cells and also protects against venereal diseases.

An Implanon is a small rod that is placed in your arm by the doctor. That rod releases hormones for 3 years so that ovulation does not take place. So you can't get pregnant for 3 years. After 3 years, a doctor will remove the swab from your arm.

The pill ensures that no egg is released. The pill must be taken daily.
The pill contains hormones that prevent ovulation.

The nuvaring is a plastic ring that you slide into the vagina. The ring stays in it for 3 weeks and releases hormones so that no egg is released. The ring is removed on the 4th week and the woman has her period. You use a new ring every month.

The IUD prevents pregnancy because it prevents an embryo from implanting in the uterus (copper IUD) or because it releases hormones so that no egg is released (hormone spiral).

Other forms of birth control:
Morning after pill

Suppose you have had sexual intercourse without contraception. Then you can take the morning-after pill. This pill ensures that your ovulation/ovulation is delayed by a few days, so that the sperm cells hopefully do not reach the egg. However, the side effect of nausea may occur. NB! If your egg has already been fertilized, a morning-after pill will no longer help!

Periodic abstinence

With periodic abstinence, man and woman do not have sexual intercourse during the 'fertile period' of 3 to 4 days. The moment of ovulation (in the graph on day 13) can be determined on the basis of body temperature. After ovulation, the body temperature rises by 0.2 to 0.3 degrees until the next menstrual period. However, this is not always easy to measure, in addition, sperm cells can remain alive in a woman's body for up to 5 days. This method is therefore not really reliable.

coitus interruptus

In coitus interruptus (interrupted sexual intercourse), the man withdraws his penis from the vagina when he feels his orgasm coming. The ejaculation then takes place outside the vagina. However, sperm cells with the pre-cum may already have left the penis. Pre-cum is a small amount of fluid that comes out of the penis before ejaculation. Also coitus interruptus is an unreliable method of contraception!

Sterilization

Men and women who are sure they don't want to have any more children can have themselves sterilized. In a woman, the fallopian tube can be closed with a ring or clip. The eggs can then no longer enter the uterus and the sperm cells can no longer reach the egg. In a man, the vas deferens can be cut, shortened and tied off. The sperm cells can then no longer go out.

unwanted pregnancy

Overtime treatment
If you are pregnant and the pregnancy is unwanted, you can decide to have treatment overdue. You must undergo this between the tenth and the sixteenth day after the absence of menstruation. The lining of the uterus is sucked out through a tube. This takes place in the outpatient clinic of a hospital.

Abortion

If the woman is late for late treatment and is not more than thirteen weeks pregnant, an abortion can be requested at an abortion clinic. This is an important decision. The request is therefore followed by an interview and a five-day reflection period. If the pregnant person decides that the circumstances are really not right or that she is really not ready for it, the following interventions can be chosen:

- The abortion pill: Here you get 1 pill that you have to swallow to ensure that the embryo dies. 24 hours after taking this pill, the doctor will push a number of tablets into your vagina to induce contractions. These contractions are necessary to be able to squeeze the embryo out of the uterus. However, this is only allowed if you are not pregnant for more than 6 weeks. After this you are required to have a suction curettage.

- The suction cure: If you opt for a suction cure or are too late for the abortion pill, you will be admitted to hospital or a clinic and you will often be put under anesthesia. The doctor then goes with a scraper/vacuum cleaner into your vagina and to your uterus to remove all the uterine mucus + embryo.