It is quite common and natural for young couples to ask how to avoid pregnancy while enjoying an active sex life. While there are so many birth control options available today, knowing what works best for you is never easy. What birth control method you use often depends on your personal preference, but it is important to have information about all of the option to be able to make a right choice.

How to Avoid Pregnancy

Today, you can find some advanced and highly effective ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Here are some of the most common choices:

1. Wear Condoms

Both male and female condoms are now available to avoid pregnancy. Latex male condoms are probably the most common choices to prevent pregnancy. Men need to wear a condom on the penis during intercourse to ensure their semen is not exposed to fertile eggs. These condoms also prove beneficial against sexually transmitted disease (STDs). Similarly, female latex condoms are also available that are more like a ring with a pouch. They fit inside the vagina and collect semen during intercourse. This barrier between semen and eggs helps prevent pregnancy, but buy these only when you know you are not allergic to latex.

2. Use Diaphragms

Made of silicone, you have to insert these shallow cups inside your vagina, right over your cervix to ensure that semen does not reach an egg. You may also consider using spermicidal jelly with diaphragms to make them more effective. Be sure to select the right size of diaphragm because they are available in different sizes considering the shape of your body. While they are effective avoiding pregnancy, they offer no protection against STDs.

3. Take Birth Control Pills

Simply called "the pill", it contains synthetic progestin and estrogen hormones to prevent an egg from leaving the ovaries. They are very effective when taken properly-you have to take one pill daily at the same time to make these pills work. You need a prescription to buy these contraceptive pills. There may be some side effects because different brands of pills contain different levels of progestin and estrogen, so ask your doctor to prescribe another brand if you experience any side effects.

4. Try Other Hormonal Devices

When you want to know how to avoid pregnancy, you can always make use of hormonal devices. There are quite a few options available, such as:

• Take the birth control shot. Your doctor will administer the shot in your arm once in three months. It works well to prevent pregnancy, but it may produce certain side effects.
• Have the birth control patch. You have to place it on the arm, thigh, or back, and have to replace it every few weeks. It works by releasing hormones through the skin.
• Try the birth control ring. You have to insert it once a month into your vagina. It releases hormones to reduce the chances of becoming pregnant.
• Use the birth control implant. Your healthcare provider will insert a small rod in your arm where it releases hormones to prevent pregnancy. It stays effective for up to three years and can be removed by a healthcare provider only.

5. Insert IUDs

Your healthcare provider will place a metal device in your uterus to prevent pregnancy. These devices can be of different types and work by releasing hormones. You can also find a device made of copper that prevents pregnancy by affecting the mobility of sperm. These devices stay effective for up to 12 years, but they may cost you between $500 and $1000. Typical IUDs may interrupt your menstrual cycle, but if that happens, you can try the copper IUD.

6. Calculate Fertility

One way to learn how to avoid pregnancy is to learn the method called natural family planning. It involves having sex during certain times in your menstrual cycle when you are not fertile. You need to calculate fertility first and you can do so using the following methods:

• The calendar method. You have to track different phases of your menstrual cycle on a calendar to identify pattern overtime. You will then use the pattern to determine when ovulation occurs. Pregnancy is most likely to happen starting from 5 days prior to ovulation.
• The mucus method. You have to keep an eye on your vaginal mucus because it changes consistency and color when you ovulate.
• The temperature method. You have to check your body's basal temperature and wait until it goes up a few tenths of degree to know when ovulation occurs.
• Use ovulation preditor kits to know when you are ovulating. 

While these methods usually work, there are chances of miscalculating, so you may consider using other methods together with this one.

7. Conduct Surgery

You can also consider surgical procedures to avoid becoming pregnant because of unprotected sex. You can opt for female sterilization that involves closing the fallopian tubes to prevent pregnancy. It proves to be effective, but it is difficult to reverse. Men, on the other hand, can go for a vasectomy which involves blocking the vas deferentia, a tube through which sperm flow out and mix with semen. This way, a man's semen will not contain any sperm when he ejaculates, so pregnancy will not take place. Consider this option only if you want to become permanently sterilized.

8. Take Emergency Contraception

Also called Plan B or day-after-pill, women can take it after sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy. They are available in a pack of two pills and contain levonorgestrel to prevent pregnancy. Just keep in mind that emergency contraception is not a substitute for regular birth control.

Tips During Sex to Avoid Pregnancy

Now that you know about how to avoid pregnancy using different devices and methods, you may also want to know what steps you can take to reduce the chances of becoming pregnant. Here are some tips to consider:

• Avoid having unprotected sex when you are having your menstrual period. Sperm can still travel through fluid and fertilize an egg.
• Pulling out before ejaculation is not a way to avoid pregnancy. Always wear condom if you do not want to deal with unwanted pregnancies.
• Avoid close contact of exposed genitals. You may feel that rubbing genitals together is safe, but even precum contains sperm that can travel through the vaginal opening and fertilize an egg.
• Do not let your partner touch his penis with his fingers and then enter those fingers into your vagina. You can become pregnant that way.
• Do not touch the condom if you have touched the penis of your partner first. You may have sperm on your fingers that may transfer to the condom and then enter your vagina to cause pregnancy.
• Make sure your partner does not leave his penis inside your vagina after ejaculation. Condoms may come off when the penis retracts in size and this increases the risk of pregnancy.