Source: Says.com
When it comes to contraception, which method do you believe is the most effective?
From condoms and contraceptive implants to oral contraceptive pills and injections, there are plenty of ways both men and women can go about birth control.
However, a recent study by Alpro Pharmacy among 1,300 Malaysian women has revealed some interesting findings about their habits in regard to contraception and family planning.
These survey results were discussed during a roundtable session on the subject of Women’s Empowerment and Family Planning at a launch event by Alpro Pharmacy and Bayer Malaysia on their teleconsultation service — Alpro Birth Control Teleconsult
The panellists, Dr Maiza Tusimin, Consultant Obstetrician, Gynaecologist and Reproductive Medicine, Ph Lim En-Ni, Chief Pharmacist of Alpro Pharmacy, and Sazzy Falak, Co-Founder of Womentum Life, TV Presenter/Actress, also had a meaningful discussion regarding family planning.
Sazzy shared that family planning helped her and her husband plan for their first baby, as she wanted to ensure she was ready to juggle both her career and her family.
“By the time I gave birth to my twins, I was 30. I still continued with my profession, but I’m glad I had that time in my 20s to go crazy. After I had children in my 30s, that was when I started to get into business, doing startups and stuff.
“Having that time also allowed me to make plans with my career and what I wanted to do in my life. So that’s what I did,” she said.
Dr Maiza and Ph En-Ni also had much to share by debunking a few misconceptions surrounding contraception.Jom, let’s go through these misconceptions discussed by the panellists:
MISCONCEPTION #1: The pull-out method is effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies
Pulling out occurs during sexual intercourse when a man withdraws his penis from the vagina before ejaculating to prevent semen from entering the vagina.
The study shows an alarming 50% of Malaysian women responded that they believe natural family planning or the pull-out method is safe to avoid unplanned pregnancies.
According to Dr Maiza, around 26% of women may get pregnant with the pull-out method, which shows that there is still a high risk of pregnancy. Thus, in terms of its effectiveness as a form of birth control, it is not 100% reliable.
Image used for illustration purposes only.
MISCONCEPTION #2: The morning-after pill can be taken as often as oral contraceptive pills
While oral contraceptive pills are meant to be taken daily to stop ovulation from occurring throughout the menstrual cycle, the morning-after pill is more of an emergency contraception that is only meant to be taken in the event of unprotected sexual intercourse.
The Alpro Pharmacy survey revealed that 20% of the respondents are likely to use this as a means of contraception.
Dr Maiza advises women to not take emergency contraceptives every day.
“Let’s say the couple had unprotected sexual intercourse, and the next morning they took the pill. It only will work once or twice on occasion, but you can’t be using it every day, or every other day, because it does not protect the woman from getting pregnant if it is taken after the egg has been released, or in another word, ovulation,” she added.
It is important to normalise discussions revolving around family planning and contraception to debunk misconceptions surrounding these issues.With this in mind, Alpro Birth Control Teleconsult is an initiative to encourage women to make well-informed decisions about their bodies.
This service allows women to receive personalised health consultations from professionals and birth control medication delivered to their homes conveniently, all while maintaining patient confidentiality! Getting your birth control will be a breeze too, as you can purchase it online while enjoying same day delivery. :)
Additionally, you can get more information about women’s health via Ask Maya, an AI chatbot designed to answer all your burning questions, be it about the types of contraceptive methods or ways to improve your menstrual cycle.