What to drink to prevent pregnancy

Last Updated on September 14, 2020

Many couples want to have children but only with proper planning. To prevent unwanted pregnancy, many women use contraceptive pills which have adverse effects on the body in the long run. There are also a number of home remedies that can help you prevent pregnancy. Of course, none of these methods is 100% effective; they are all just precautionary. So, it’s always best to practise safe sex as much as you can!

There are some methods of preventing pregnancy, which go hand-in-hand with the human body and medical science. Some of them are:

This method provides an added layer of precaution if you already have some kind of protection in place. You can avoid the ovulation days, which usually occur two weeks before the period. A good way to go about it is to consult a fertility expert to track your ovulation days and schedule your intercourse accordingly.

The male partner can take care not to ejaculate inside his partner. This method requires practice, and there’s a risk that the sperm might somehow enter the vagina. Therefore, it’s better to do this along with other proven contraceptive methods.

Once your period ends, you can start tracking your basal body temperature. When ovulation begins, the temperature starts rising and peaks on the day of ovulation. You can avoid conception if you avoid sex during this period.

A woman’s body produces a transparent, jelly-like discharge in the days leading up to ovulation. Abstaining from sex during this period can prevent ovulation.

The following contraceptive methods are considered to be useful; however, there is no scientific evidence that they are 100% effective.

Some believe if you have unsafe intercourse, having papaya twice a day for the next 3-4 days may reduce the chances of an unwanted pregnancy. Some also believe that when the fruit is consumed by the male partner, it can reduce sperm count.

Ginger is believed to induce a period and prevent pregnancy. Some grated ginger boiled in a cup of water for five minutes can be strained and consumed twice a day. However, this remedy also does not guarantee results.

Apricot is believed to prevent pregnancy in a natural way. Traditionally, about 100 gms of dried apricots are boiled in a cup of water with 2 tablespoons of honey. This concoction may be a great option for a beverage, but may not work to prevent a pregnancy though.

Figs promote blood circulation; however, no studies prove that eating dried figs after having unsafe intercourse can help prevent pregnancy. Also, overeating figs can cause an upset stomach.

Cinnamon is a great spice to add flavour to foods, but it is also believed to stimulate the uterus, and cause miscarriage. Once again, there is no evidence that it can prevent pregnancies, cause a miscarriage and can be used as a birth control method.

Juniper berries also make it to the list of remedies that many believe can help prevent pregnancy. You can relish the fruit when it’s in season, but in no way is it a natural contraceptive method.

Drinking 1/4th teaspoon of asafoetida mixed in water to avoid a pregnancy is another mid wives’ tale we do not recommend.

Parsley is also believed to be an effective home remedy to prevent pregnancy. However, no studies have proven that it is a mild herb.

Another old wives’ tale suggests injecting neem oil into the uterus to kill the sperm or taking neem tablets to promote temporary sterility in men. Again, there is no scientific proof that these remedies could work.

Some believe the properties of pineapple can prevent pregnancy; therefore, they suggest eating an unripe pineapple every day for 2-3 days after sex. Again, no study supports this myth, and the pineapple is better enjoyed as a delicious fruit in moderate quantities.

The rutin in buckwheat is believed to prevent implantation, but medical science doesn’t support this myth.

Eating a wild yam twice a day regularly for one or two months is also believed to work as a birth control remedy. But, it is just a belief and has no medical evidence that it can prevent a pregnancy.

Another home remedy to prevent a pregnancy is to mix a teaspoon of the dried and powdered root and mix it with half a cup of cold water. You may try it if you’ve had Indian turnip before; however, do not get your hopes up as it is not a proven remedy.

There are certain things you should keep in mind when you use any of the above home remedies:

• If you’re looking for an effective way to avoid pregnancy and are considering any one of the above methods on a long-term basis, consult a gynaecologist.
• Many of the herbs and foods listed above are neither 100% effective nor 100% free from side effects. Some carry risks that may prove harmful in the long run.
• If you experience any abnormal health effects after taking the remedy, stop taking it.
• Make sure you eat healthily while taking any birth control measures.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the home remedies to prevent unwanted pregnancy are not as effective as condoms, contraceptive pills or other medical contraceptive devices. Practising safe sex is always the best option. Consult your doctor so that you can proceed without anxiety or fear. After all, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Also Read:

How to Avoid Pregnancy?
How to Use the Birth Control Patch?
Best Ways to Stop Pregnancy After One Month
Natural and Safe Home Remedies for Abortion

Page last reviewed: 24 March 2021
Next review due: 24 March 2024

You can become pregnant if you have unprotected intercourse even just once! Maybe you tried to protect yourself but the condom broke. Perhaps you were taking birth control pills but missed two or more of them, or you usually get a birth control shot every three months but missed your last shot. Or you thought that if your boyfriend didn’t ejaculate inside you, you couldn’t get pregnant. Possibly in the heat of the moment, you just didn’t think about birth control. Maybe you were sexually assaulted.

If you have had sex in the past few days, it isn’t too late to prevent a pregnancy using emergency contraception. Although sometimes called the morning after pill, emergency contraception can be used up to three days after intercourse (some doctors think it might even work up to five days after).

Emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) are high dose birth control pills. They aren’t 100% effective, but they do reduce the chance of getting pregnant by 75%. For example, if 100 women have unprotected intercourse once in the second or third week of their cycle (counting from the first day of their period), eight would get pregnant if they didn’t use emergency contraception but only two would become pregnant if they took emergency contraception.

Emergency contraception will not make your pregnancy go away. It is not an abortion pill. However, if you find out after you have taken it that you are pregnant, don’t worry. Many women have taken estrogen and progestrone (the hormones in ECPs) in early pregnancy without harm to the fetus.

The most common side effects of ECPs are nausea and vomiting. A pill to lessen the symptoms is given with the ECPs. If you throw up within an hour of taking the first dose of ECPs, you need to repeat it. Some women will have sore breasts for a few days, and others have complained about headaches. These problems are much less common.

You will be given three pills (two are emergency contraception, one is antinausea) to take immediately, and three pills to take 12 h later. If you will be unable to take them in 12 h, you can delay your first dose so that you can take the second dose 12 h later. For instance, if it is 10 o’clock at night, and at 10 tomorrow morning you will be in math class, you can wait until midnight to take the first pills and take the next ones at lunchtime. The second dose of pills is very important.

• Do not drive or drink any alcohol for the next 24 h after the second set of pills. The medication that you take to prevent nausea may make you feel drowsy.

• Do not take any extra birth control pills. They will not decrease your chance of getting pregnant and will likely increase nausea and vomiting.

Some women get their period a few days after taking emergency contraception. Others have it when they are expecting their next period or even a bit later. If you haven’t started a period within three weeks of taking the ECPs, you should have a pregnancy test.

Do not count on emergency contraception to protect you if you have unprotected intercourse again. You should use condoms and spermicide if you are going to have intercourse. Talk to your doctor about starting a reliable form of birth control.

Emergency contraception is not as good at preventing pregnancy as other methods of birth control such as birth control pills taken regularly or birth control shots. In addition, you should be using condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS.

Your paediatrician, family doctor or local public health department will have more information about this. On the Internet, you can try <opr.princeton.edu/ec/> or look for the Canadian Paediatric Society position paper on emergency contraception in the Adolescent Medicine Section on the society’s website at <www.cps.ca/english/statements/>.

This information should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your physician. There may be variations in treatment that your physician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

This information may be reproduced without permission and shared with patients and their families.

Canadian Paediatric Society, 2204 Walkley Road, Suite 100, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 4G8 telephone 613-526-9397, fax 613-526-3332, http://www.cps.ca

Articles from Paediatrics & Child Health are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press