Alana Benson - Everything You Need to Know about Birth Control

1. CHAPTER ONE
   A BRIEF HISTORY OF BIRTH CONTROL
2. CHAPTER TWO
   HORMONAL METHODS
3. CHAPTER THREE
   NONHORMONAL AND BARRIER METHODS
4. CHAPTER FOUR
   NATURAL METHODS
5. CHAPTER FIVE
   TOO LATE FOR BIRTH CONTROL?
6. CHAPTER SIX
   WHATS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL?

Published in 2019 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2019 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Benson, Alana, author.

Title: Everything you need to know about birth control / Alana Benson.

Description: New York : Rosen YA, 2019. | Series: The need to know library |

Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Grades 7-12.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018003829| ISBN 9781508183433 (library bound) | ISBN 9781508183426 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: ContraceptionJuvenile literature. Classification: LCC RG136.3 .B46 2019 | DDC 613.9/4dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018003829

Manufactured in the United States of America

CHAPTER ONE
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BIRTH CONTROL

CHAPTER TWO
HORMONAL METHODS

CHAPTER THREE
NONHORMONAL AND BARRIER METHODS

CHAPTER FOUR
NATURAL METHODS

CHAPTER FIVE
TOO LATE FOR BIRTH CONTROL?

CHAPTER SIX
WHATS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL?

L earning about birth control can be intimidating. Even asking about birth control can feel embarrassing or awkward. If you dont have an adult you can trust in your life, it probably means youre getting your information from your friends or the internet. The internet is a great resource if youre looking at the right stuff. Unfortunately, there is also some really bad information out there, especially when it comes to sex and birth control.

So why do people use birth control anyway? Primarily, its a way to prevent pregnancy. Some forms of birth control, such as condoms, also provide protection against sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, but not all types of birth control protect against STDs. Because of this, many people use two forms of birth controlfor example, birth control pills and condomsto protect against not only pregnancy but STDs as well. There are other reasons people may use certain forms of birth control, such as reducing acne or making periods more manageable.

When it comes to birth control, sex is inherently part of the conversation. The main reason people use birth control is so they can have sex while preventing pregnancy. Most often when people choose to have sex, its because they enjoy sex, not because they want to have a baby. Birth control is still a controversial topic for some people, but learning more about it can help you decide where your beliefs lie. Knowing about birth control will help you understand some important political discussions, such as the debates around health care, insurance, and even abortion. You may not be too worried about insurance or health care today, but it is useful to understand how birth control can be a part of a much bigger conversation.

There are lots of different forms of birth control. These include physical barriers, such as condoms, and pills that work with your bodys hormones to prevent a pregnancy.

Whatever you choose to do with your life, you should know that having sex does not make you a bad or immoral person, and not having sex does not make you a prude. The choice about whether or not to have sex is yours and yours alone. You should never be pressured into having sex or pressure someone else into sex. Sex is intimate, and for most people, it is something they prefer to keep private. When it comes to sex, having a partner whom you trust is important, especially when it comes to birth control. If you and your partner cant have an open discussion about how you are going to protect yourselves from STDs and getting pregnant, you may not be ready to have sex in the first place.

Learning about birth control can put you in control of your future, whether you are female, male, or nonbinary. Even if you cant get pregnant yourself, you still need to take responsibility for birth control. Anyone who can become pregnant or who is having sex with someone who can become pregnant needs to know about birth control. This knowledge can empower you to make choices that will keep you in school, on track, and generally happy and healthy.

A ccording to Jonathan Eig, author of The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution, For as long as men and women have been making babies, theyve been trying not to. Long before the birth control pill (sometimes called just the Pill) was invented, people tried to figure out ways to prevent pregnancy. As early as 3000 BCE, people used linen cloth, animal intestines, and even fish bladders as condoms, or physical barriers between two people having sex. In ancient Egypt, circa 1500 BCE, women would make a paste out of crocodile dung to insert inside themselves before having sex. Ancient China saw women drinking lead and mercury to prevent pregnancy, and the Greek doctor Soranus advised women to hold their breath and to try to sneeze after sex to prevent pregnancy.

Birth control has come a long way since then, and modern forms of contraception include condoms, the Pill, and a number of other hormonal and nonhormonal methods, many of which are very effective at preventing pregnancy when used correctly. However, since the nineteenth century, there has been vocal opposition to birth control from religious groups propagating the idea that birth control leads to immorality. These groups often have influence over politicians, and, as a result, access to birth control still faces legal challenges.

Gum arabic, produced by the acacia shrub, was used as a contraceptive in ancient Egypt.

Although sex (especially for women) had been viewed as scandalous for some time, it wasnt until 1873 that conservative views about birth control started influencing policy in the United States. Anthony Comstock was a postal investigator who believed that the world around him was crumbling into an obscene, immoral mess. Utilizing an 1865 law that made it illegal to send obscene books, pamphlets, or pictures through the mail (originally created to keep Civil War soldiers from sending and receiving racy material), Comstock lobbied for drugs or medicines to be added to the list. The Comstock Act of 1873 made it so that birth control, and even information about birth control, could not be widely distributed.