This wouldn’t be a complete sex manual without addressing birth control. Of course, no method is 100% effective (other than abstinence!) but there is a wide difference in how effective the different methods are.
Pulling out (coitus interruptus)
The easiest (and least effective) contraceptive method is pulling out. It’s exactly what it sounds like. You have normal sex but your husband pulls out before ejaculating. It works about 75% of the time, meaning you’ve still got a good chance of getting pregnant. If you want a surefire way of avoiding pregnancy, this is not it.
Condom
The method that’s most commonly thought of when thinking about birth control is the male condom. In addition to birth control, it’s a barrier contraceptive so it helps prevent STD transmission (insha’Allah something you’ll never have to worry about). The best condoms are effective a little over 80% of the time. That’s probably a lot lower than you were expecting! The reason condoms are so common in our society is not because they’re extremely effective for birth control but instead because they’re very effective in blocking STD transmission. This is a huge problem among nonMuslims who have multiple partners (and their partners have multiple partners) so condoms are strongly emphasized. This is less of a concern for a couple with bilateral monogamy and so condoms are probably not the best choice for birth control if you really want to avoid pregnancy.
How to put a condom on is simple but for those who are completely
bewildered, here it is:
Take it out of the package and make sure it’s the right way around. Squeeze the end with your index finger and thumb and place it on the tip of his erect penis. Keeping the tip of the condom squeezes, unroll it down the length of his penis. Make sure there’s some slack at the place you squeezed so that his cum has a place to go.
Pill
The most common type of pill is a combination of estrogen and progestin. These make your mucus thicker to stop sperm from entering your uterus and also stop ovulation so that your eggs don’t leave your ovaries. These are effective 90% of the time for most women. They can also have some side effects like spotting, breast tenderness, headaches, depression, and decreased libido.
Hormonal birth control
These work similar to the pill but aren’t taken orally. You can get an implant (Implanon or Nexplanon) and it’ll last for 3 years. It works 99.5% of the time.
You can also get “the shot”, i.e. Depo-Provera. You have to go get it every three months. It works about 95% of the time but some people experience weight gain with it.
There’s also a patch and a vaginal ring that work in a similar manner.
IUD
These seem to be the most popular. Your doctor inserts it into your vagina and it’s good for at least 5 years. It is 99.8% effective! A lot of women find that it helps decrease period cramps (or eliminates periods altogether).
Sterilization
This isn’t really an option for Muslim women but a tubal ligation will
surgically alter your reproductive system so that you can’t conceive.
Permanent contraception is haram in Islam so this is only an option if a doctor says that childbirth will literally cause you to die.