10 Most Ridiculous Pregnancy Prevention Myths
There are many myths about how to prevent sex from resulting in a pregnancy and many of them have persisted for years despite lots of evidence to the contrary. Below are 10 of the most popular of these myths and the reasons why they are completely false!
Pregnancy Strip Test
Myth#1: You cannot get pregnant if you have intercourse during your period.
Truth: The cycle of every woman’s period is different. This is particularly true in women who are in the adolescent stage or who have fluctuations in their hormones. As a result there truly is no time at which a woman can have unprotected intercourse and not risk conception.
Myth#2: Conception won’t occur if it’s your first time having sex
Truth: There’s no reason this should ever have been considered accurate but to this day there are still people that believe this one. As a matter of fact a woman doesn’t have to have even had her first period to get pregnant (at the first time of ovulation there’s never been a cycle and so no period). All that needs to occur for a woman to get pregnant is that her body happens to be ovulating at the time of intercourse.
Myth#3: A heating pad or a hot bath after intercourse can prevent a pregnancy
Truth: This one has a teeny tiny amount of truth in it but it’s still very much a myth. The idea of taking a hot bath or applying a heating pad to prevent pregnancy is that the heat will kill the sperm. While it is true that direct heat does kill sperm (don’t try this at home folks) a hot bath or heating pad just does not generate enough heat to do what a lab can.
Myth#4: Douching with soda (usually 7-up or Coca-cola in these stories) will kill the sperm.
Truth: No matter what you use to douche, there’s no real basis in the idea that the practice will kill sperm after intercourse. In fact using soda in this fashion has a very good chance of giving you a yeast infection! This is because of the high amount of sugars in carbonated beverages.
Myth#5: The “pulling out” method really works.
Truth: This one is particularly hard to get across as a myth despite lots of evidence to the contrary! While it is true that most of the sperm a man secretes during intercourse is in the ejaculate, there is still a smaller amount found in the lubricating fluid his body produces before he even nears that stage of intercourse. This smaller amount of sperm is just as likely to get a woman pregnant as the seminal fluid that comes later on. Just as there is no time a woman can have unprotected sex and not get pregnant there’s no point at which a man can prevent his sperm from fertilizing the egg if he takes part in vaginal penetration.
Myth#6: Taking 20 aspirin after intercourse prevents conception.
Truth: Aspirin has absolutely nothing to do with your reproductive system! Neither does any other pill (other than a regularly taken birth control one, mind you) for that matter! Please don’t take pills for purposes other than what they were intended!
Myth#7: If the intercourse takes place with the woman on top or of both partners are standing up no pregnancy will result
Truth: Gravity is a mighty force but so is nature’s desire to help you produce children! If you believe this myth you’re not giving sperm credit for the strength and speed they truly do possess! Many children have been produced from both of these forms of intercourse.
Myth#8: Imbibing large amounts of alcohol makes the sperm too drunk to fertilize the egg
Truth: This is one of the sillier ones! There’s absolutely no reason you should think fertility is thwarted by how drunk you are! If anything it means that the risk of becoming pregnant goes up because your inhibitions aren’t helping you keep track of what you’re doing or with whom!
Myth#9: Jumping up or back or anywhere else will prevent pregnancy
Truth:: Another silly one! Jump all you want; those little guys are far too determined not to do the job they were made to do! Gravity and movement have very little to do with the conception process outside of the need for penetration.
Myth#10: If both partners don’t reach climax, conception won’t occur
Truth: Reproduction has nothing to do with how happy both partners were with the act. As long as vaginal penetration occurred at some in the intercourse, there’s a very good chance the woman will become pregnant.
