21 Sep Birth Control 101

We asked representatives from Planned Parenthood Ottawa to give us the rundown of everything birth control. We asked five questions that delivered important answers and advice. Please always talk to a professional before making your decision regarding birth control and remember to maintain your reproductive health.

Why is birth control an important part of sexual health?

Sexual health is a part of who we are as human beings. According to the World Health Organization, it has to do with the physical, emotional, mental, and social aspects of sexuality. For example, many people think sexuality only has to do with pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but it also includes how you feel about your body, how you connect with other people, and how you communicate with other people about your wants and needs. 

Birth control, also called contraception, similarly has physical, emotional, mental, and social importance to sexuality. Birth control can help people make choices about their own bodies, allowing them to take charge of their sexual health. So really, birth control is about having agency. Imagine someone who wants to finish grad school before they become a parent – birth control can help make that goal a reality. Birth control can also help with issues that are totally unrelated to pregnancy too! Imagine someone whose period cramps are so painful they prevent them from doing what they want – hormonal birth control could help with that. Birth control helps us meet our sexual health needs, which, if you think about it, makes it pretty awesome. 

What can birth control help with?

Birth control can help with many different things! Really, it’s about overall life management. People can use birth control to prevent unplanned pregnancy; help with cramps, mood swings, and acne-related to your period (aka premenstrual syndrome or PMS for short); and some birth controls also reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs); manage acne generally; and have predictable, regular period cycles. 

What birth control options are available? 

Birth control is a super vast category that lots of things fall under! 

It’s important to consider that just because a birth control option is available doesn’t mean it’s accessible to everyone. Depending on what area you live in, access to transportation, medical coverage, and financial position are just a few examples of factors that can all affect one’s ability to get their hands on and use certain methods. 

There are also birth control methods that are available in different parts of the world or in different cultures that are not available in Canada (one example is the implant), but we do have a lot of birth control methods available on the market in Canada. 

Birth control that you can get from the pharmacy without a prescription include spermicides, external condoms (what people usually mean when they use the phrase “condom”), internal condoms (also called “female condoms”), contraceptive sponges, and diaphragms. Some of these are easier to find than others, like spermicides and external condoms. For a list of pharmacies that carry diaphragms, give Planned Parenthood Ottawa a call!

Birth controls that are most effective at preventing unplanned pregnancies include hormonal IUDs, copper IUDs, The Shot, The Patch, The Ring, The Pill, and surgical options like tubal ligation and vasectomy. 

Birth controls most effective at lowering the risk of STIs are barrier methods like external and internal condoms as well as not having oral, anal, or vaginal sex (aka abstinence). 

Birth control can also be behavioural choices which are free. These methods include abstinence, tracking your ovulation cycle to prevent fertilization (also called the “Fertility Awareness Method” or “Rhythm” method), or withdrawal (aka “the pull out method”). 

There are also emergency birth controls, such as an emergency copper IUD and the morning after pill (also called Plan B or Ella). These birth controls can be used if you had unprotected sex or your birth control method failed (for example, the external condom you were using broke).

For more detailed information on all these options, you can check out Planned Parenthood Ottawa’s web pages on birth control as well as Bedsider’s method explorer. They are where most of the information to answer this question came from! 

Where can I access these types of birth control?

Just like there are lots of different kinds of birth controls there are lots of ways to access them!

Behavioural methods require partner communication, practice, and sometimes a little bit of research, but don’t require talking to any health care providers.  Methods like spermicides and condoms can be picked up from the pharmacy without talking to a healthcare provider. Also, internal and external condoms can be picked up for free from Planned Parenthood Ottawa’s office at 222 Somerset West, Unit #404.

For methods that require a prescription, you’ll need to speak with a health care provider first.

Each emergency birth control method can be accessed in a different way. Follow this link here:  https://ppottawa.ca/emergency-contraception/ for more detailed information on each. 

For example, let’s say AJ wants birth control that they don’t have to remember every day, but they also want birth control that they can easily stop in case they have side effects that they don’t like. AJ decides to go into their family doctor and ask for a birth control prescription. Their family doctor might take AJ’s blood pressure, ask a couple clarifying questions about their health and smoking habits, and then recommend the Nuva Ring. The Nuva Ring is inserted into the vagina and stays there for three weeks, then AJ can remove it for a week, have their period, and then put a new ring in for three weeks. This method is approximately 92% effective with typical use and only needs to be remembered twice a month. AJ’s doctor will give them a prescription and tell them to fill the prescription at the pharmacy. If AJ has an OHIP card (Ontario Health Insurance Plan Card), their doctor’s appointment will be covered, but their birth control prescription might not be. When AJ goes to a pharmacy to fill their prescription, they might be asked to wait 15 minutes. AJ decides to come back to their pharmacy the next morning so they don’t have to wait for the prescription. When they go back to the pharmacy to pick up the Nuva Ring, they find out that they have student insurance that covers part of their prescription costs, so they only pay $9 to the pharmacist. 

Just like AJ, many people with an OHIP card can get a prescription by talking to their family doctor, going to a walk-in clinic, or going to the Sexual Health Clinic (located at 179 Clarence St). People can also access the Ottawa University walk-in clinic, even if you are not a student. For people who don’t have an OHIP card that gives them a doctor’s appointment for free, they might have another type of insurance that does the same thing. As for whether or not a prescription might be covered; people are always welcome to call us if they need some guiding questions to help clients figure out if they have that kind of insurance. 

How do I know what birth control is right for me?

The right birth control is the one that you will use! By this, we mean that not every birth control works with every person. Birth controls have so many different variables, and anyone of them to someone might be something they want and to another something they don’t want. For example, some people like using internal condoms because it makes them feel in touch with their bodies and empowered, while others dislike needing to insert it into their vagina and dislike the responsibility of being the one to place the barrier device.

Using your birth control method ideally shouldn’t be a thing that you dread. If you are in constant pain using the type of birth control you have, or you constantly hate the idea of using the birth control you have, the birth control you are using might not be the birth control for you. Here are some questions to help guide you:

• Do I want a method that I need to take daily, remember each time I engage in sexual activities or one that I don’t have to worry about for weeks, months, or years?
• Do I want a method that prevents STIs as well as pregnancy?
• Do I mind a method that modifies my hormone cycle and changes my PMS symptoms? Would I actually be really, really into that idea?
• How much am I able/willing to spend on birth control? Or do I have some type of insurance that can cover the item of birth control?
• How private do I want or need my method of birth control to be? Do I need a method of birth control that I can hide from others?

If you have any more questions about birth control please contact Planned Parenthood Ottawa anytime. You can call us at 613- 226-3234 (ext:100) or email us at ppottawa@ppottawa.ca