Birth Control & Pregnancies

Pregnancy Rates for Birth Control Methods
(For One Year of Use)
The following table provides estimates of the percent of women likely to become pregnant while using a particular contraceptive method for one year. These estimates are based on a variety of studies.
"Typical Use" rates mean that the method either was not always used correctly or was not used with every act of sexual intercourse (e.g., sometimes forgot to take a birth control pill as directed and became pregnant), or was used correctly but failed anyway.
"Lowest Expected" rates mean that the method was always used correctly with every act of sexual intercourse but failed anyway (e.g., always took a birth control pill as directed but still became pregnant).


Birth Control Methods & Pregnancy Rates
Method Typical Pregnancy Rate Lowest Pregnancy Rate
Male Sterilization 0.15% 0.1%
Female Sterilization 0.5% 0.5%
Implant (Norplant) 0.09% 0.09%
Hormone Shot 0.3% 0.3%
Combined Pill 5% 0.1%
Minipill 5% 0.5%
IUD 0.8% 0.6%
Male Latex Condoms 14% 3%
Diaphragm 20% 6%
Sponge (no births) 20% 9%
Sponge (births) 40% 20%
Cervical Cap (no births) 20% 9%
Cervical Cap (births) 40% 26%
Spermicide 26% 6%
Withdrawal 19% 4%
Natural Planning 25% 1-9%
No Method 85% 85%

This isn't the original table I had found but pretty close. The only ones that really shock me are the condom and withdrawl. You are "almost" as likely to get pregnant using a condom properly as you are to pull out. Although with the amount of people who are pregnant that I know, I'm pretty sure that my high school taught the "no method" as offical birth control. Which I guess is really what you are teaching when you don't mention sex education in school. I think if my health teacher had said 85/100 of you will get pregnant if you don't at least pull out, I would have avoided having sex! But than again if my teacher had said 4/100 of you will get pregnant if he pulls out and 3/100 of you will get pregnant if he uses a condom, it would have made it a lot harder to convince a guy to wear a condom, unless those gross STD pictures did it for him...