# Contraception Methods > Contraception for NEET Biology: natural, barrier, IUDs like CuT and Multiload 375, pills, Saheli from CDRI Lucknow, vasectomy and tubectomy mechanisms. - Canonical URL: https://prepelephant.com/topics/neet-ug/biology/contraception-neet - Exam / course: NEET-UG · Subject: Biology - Publisher: PrepElephant (https://prepelephant.com) — Prepared and reviewed by the PrepElephant Academic Review Team - First published: 2026-10-02 - Last updated: 2026-10-02 - How to cite: "Contraception Methods", PrepElephant, https://prepelephant.com/topics/neet-ug/biology/contraception-neet ## 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.