Table 7.5 provides a comparative summary of the various methods of birth control discussed in this chapter.

Table 7.5 Summary of Information on Methods of Contraception and Abortion

Method	Effectiveness Rating	Failure Rate, Perfect Use, %	Failure Rate, Typical Use, %	Death Rate (per 100,000 Women)	Yearly Costs, $*	Advantages	Disadvantages
Depo-Provera	Excellent	0.3	3		300	Requires less memory
Combination birth control pills	Excellent	0.3	8	1.6	455	Highly effective; not used at time of coitus; improved menstrual cycles	Cost; possible side effects; must take daily
Patch	Excellent	0.3	1.3		455	Requires less memory than pill
Vaginal Ring	Excellent	0.5	5	—	455
IUD, Copper T	Excellent	0.6	0.8	1.0	250†	Requires no memory or motivation	May be expelled
Progesterone T	Excellent	0.1	0.1		250
Condom, male	Very good	2	15	1.7	75	Easy to use; protection from STIs	Used at time of coitus; continual expense
Condom, female	Good	5	21	2.0	375	Protection from STIs	Awkward
Diaphram with	Good	6	16	2.0‡	100	No side	Aesthetic
spermicide						effects, inexpensive	objections
Femcap with spermicide					100	No side effects, inexpensive	—
Parous women	Fair	26	32	2.0‡
Nulliparous women	Good	9	16	2.0‡
Vaginal foam, cream	Fair	18	29	2.0‡	50	Easy to use; availability	Messy, continual expense
Withdrawal	Good	4	27	2.0	None	No cost	Requires high motivation
Rhythm	Poor to fair	2–9	25	2.0	None	No cost, accepted by Roman Catholic Church	Requires high motivation, prolonged abstinence; not all women can use
Unprotected intercourse	Poor	85	85	9‡	None§
Legal abortion, first trimester	Excellent	0	0	0.5	350–700	Available when other methods fail	Expensive; moral or psychological unacceptability
Sterilization, male	Excellent	0.10	0.15	0.3	1,500**	Permanent; highly effective	Permanence; expense
Sterilization, female	Excellent	0.5	.5	1.5	1,500–6,000**	Permanent; highly effective	Permanence; expense

*Based on 150 acts of intercourse. Prices are provided by Planned Parenthood, 2007, for full-paying clients (http://www.plannedparenthood.org/birth-control-pregnancy). Prices are reduced for those with low incomes. Prices are higher for private physicians.
^†Based on a cost of $500 for the IUD including insertion by a physician, and the assumption that the IUD will be used for two years. The cost per year is much less if the IUD is used for more than two years.
^‡Based on the death rate for pregnancies resulting from the method. Of every 100,000 live births in the United States, 12 women die (Cheng et al., 2003).
^§But having a baby is expensive.
**These are one-time-only costs.
Source: Hatcher et al. (2004).