Contraception Methods
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Direct answer
Contraceptive methods fall into natural, barrier, intrauterine, hormonal and surgical classes. Natural methods include periodic abstinence (avoiding coitus in days 10-17 of the menstrual cycle, when ovulation is expected), withdrawal or coitus interruptus, and lactational amenorrhoea, effective up to six months post-partum in breast-feeding amenorrhoeic mothers. Barriers — condoms, diaphragms, cervical caps and vaults — block sperm entry. IUDs such as the non-medicated Lippes loop, copper-releasing CuT, Cu7 and Multiload 375, and hormone-releasing Progestasert and LNG-20, increase phagocytosis of sperm, copper ions suppress motility, and the uterus turns hostile to implantation. Oral pills inhibit ovulation and implantation, with Saheli — the non-steroidal, once-a-week pill developed at CDRI, Lucknow — as India's flagship; vasectomy and tubectomy are the surgical methods.
What you must remember
- Periodic abstinence: coitus avoided from day 10 to day 17 of the cycle, the window in which ovulation is most likely — the rhythm method's arithmetic.
- Lactational amenorrhoea: breast-feeding, with no menstruation up to six months after parturition, provides natural contraception — effective only while all three conditions hold.
- Barriers: condoms (male and female), diaphragms, cervical caps and vaults, aided by spermicidal creams, foams and jellies; also the only methods that guard against sexually transmitted infections.
- IUD classes: non-medicated (Lippes loop), copper-releasing (CuT, Cu7, Multiload 375) and hormone-releasing (Progestasert, LNG-20).
- IUD mechanisms: phagocytosis of sperms within the uterus increases; copper ions suppress sperm motility and fertilising capacity; hormonal IUDs make the cervix hostile to sperm and the uterus unsuitable for implantation.
- Oral contraceptive pills: progestogens or progestogen-estrogen combinations that inhibit ovulation, alter cervical mucus and impair implantation.
- Saheli: the new oral contraceptive developed by the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow — non-steroidal, taken once a week, with few side effects and high contraceptive value; the single most-tested fact in the topic.
- Surgical methods: vasectomy removes a small piece of the vas deferens in the male; tubectomy cuts or ties the fallopian tubes in the female — terminal, highly effective contraception.
Mapping every method to its checkpoint
Think of conception as a relay with fixed stations — ovulation, sperm entry, the sperm's uterine journey, fertilisation, implantation — and every contraceptive owns one station. Pills act earliest: their steroids suppress ovulation itself while thickening cervical mucus and thinning the endometrium, so even a liberated ovum finds no hospitable landing. Barriers occupy the next station physically, intercepting sperm before the cervix. IUDs work after sperm have entered: the foreign body turns the uterine environment hostile — phagocytes clear sperms more aggressively, dissolved copper cripples their motility, and hormone-releasing devices add chemical discouragement so that fertilised eggs cannot implant. Sterilisation removes a relay segment altogether, cutting the tube that gametes must travel.
Saheli deserves its own paragraph because it is the exam's darling. Developed by CDRI Lucknow, it is non-steroidal — a selective estrogen receptor modulator rather than a hormone cocktail — and it is taken once a week, an unconventional schedule that questions quote precisely; side effects are few and its contraceptive value high. The natural methods close the map with physiology rather than devices: lactational amenorrhoea rides the hormonal suppression of ovulation that intense breast-feeding maintains, but the protection is judged to last about six months post-partum and only while the mother remains amenorrhoeic. Every NEET question in this chapter is a station-identification question in disguise — read the mechanism in the stem, name the station, and the method names itself.
How the examiner frames contraception
Match-the-following is the dominant format: Saheli with once-a-week non-steroidal oral contraception, Lippes loop with the non-medicated IUD, LNG-20 with hormone-releasing IUD, vasectomy with vas deferens, tubectomy with fallopian tube. Mechanism questions target copper — "Cu2+ ions suppress motility and fertilising capacity of sperms" is quoted verbatim — and phagocytosis of sperm inside the uterus. Assertion stems test the IUD as an ideal contraceptive for Indian women (effective, long-lasting, reversible, inserted by a doctor) and the days 10-17 fertile window. Finally, the amenorrhoea conditions are bundled: breast-feeding plus no menstruation plus six months post-partum — a three-condition answer, and missing any one of the three is how the mark goes.
Frequently asked questions
What is Saheli and why is it special?
An oral contraceptive developed by CDRI, Lucknow — non-steroidal, taken once a week, with few side effects and high contraceptive effectiveness.
Name the three classes of IUDs with examples.
Non-medicated (Lippes loop), copper-releasing (CuT, Cu7, Multiload 375) and hormone-releasing (Progestasert, LNG-20).
How do copper IUDs prevent pregnancy?
They increase phagocytosis of sperms in the uterus, and released copper ions suppress sperm motility and fertilising capacity, besides making implantation unlikely.
During which days of the menstrual cycle is coitus avoided in periodic abstinence?
Days 10 to 17, the period when ovulation is most likely, making conception probable.
What is ligated or cut in vasectomy and tubectomy?
Vasectomy cuts and ties a piece of the vas deferens in the male; tubectomy occludes the fallopian tubes in the female — both are terminal sterilisation procedures.