“Oh baby, I know we’re 3 months into TEOTWAWKI, and we have tons of stuff to do, wood to chop, a garden to weed, animal traps to set and clothes to mend, but seriously, baby - I need a little action.”
“Keep it in your pants, honey. There’s no birth control available, no doctor on call, and no hospital that’s staffed. So . . . no.”
“But Baaaaby!”
File this one under the “too much information” (TMI) category.
This is no laughing matter. WTSHTF, medical care in developed countries will quickly resemble care in third world countries – at the very best – likely worse.
Women never used to have a higher life expectancy than men until advances in medical care reduced the rate at which women die during child birth. Today’s statistics are that 1 in 1,800 women in developed countries will die from pregnancy/pregnancy-related reasons; 1 in 48 in third world countries.
The most common direct causes of maternal death are severe bleeding (25%), infection (15%), unsafe abortion (13%), eclampsia (pregnancy induced hypertension often accompanied by seizures, 12%) and obstructed labor (8%). Source: http://www.deathreference.com/Me-Nu/Mortality-Childbirth.html
This is serious business if a woman becomes pregnant in the post-apocalyptic world. How should you prevent unwanted pregnancy when over-the-counter birth control is not available?
Note: Ranger Man is NOT a doctor. Consult with your physician if you plan to employ any of these birth control methods.
Abstinence - This is a no-brainer. It’s 100% effective with no complications. There are other ways you and your partner can . . . well . . . you figure it out.
Standard Days Method - This method is fairly straightforward. The woman monitors her menstrual cycle in order to track days 8-19 when the woman is most fertile. Between days 1 and 7, it’s quite unlikely that a woman can become pregnant. During days 20-32 it’s also unlikely that a woman will become pregnant. This method is best used when the woman has a regular cycle that’s between 26 and 32 days. When this method is employed regularly and consistently, it’s been stated to have 95% effectiveness.
Rhythm Method – This was one of the first fertility methods widely practiced. I’m not covering it here, though. It’s too unreliable and post-TEOTWAWKI, you’ll want something reliable.
Basal Body Temperature Method – This method requires the woman to take her temperature every day first thing in the morning before she gets out of bed. When she ovulates, her temperature will increase anywhere from half a degree to a full degree and will remain elevated. When a sustained increase in temperature lasts for at least three days, ovulation is taking place. There is a 24-hour window during which time the egg can be fertilized, but sperm can survive inside a woman for up to seven days. This method, when used consistently and correctly, can be very effective. It requires a special thermometer, however.
Source: http://www.epigee.org/
- Ranger Man
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{ 14 comments }
You forget ‘withdrawal’, which i suppose falls under rhythm.
There are also several herbal ‘menstral regulators’ that can be used early in pregnancy. They need to be dosed with care and some have harsh and/or dangerous side-effects. Not good to employ without training as an herbalist, or under the guidance of one — but one ,amongst many reasons, to include natural/herbal medicine in your survival skill set.
An IUD would work or possibly a cervical cap or diaphragm.
Intra-Uterine Contraceptive Device – for birth control, inserted into the uterus by a gynecologist and is made of plastic and metal (usually copper). It prevents the fertilized female egg from settling in the uterine wall. The most common IUDs are Copper T and Lippes Loop.
If the IUD is inserted before the SHTF everything would be fine. A diaphragm or cervical cap could be used whenever.
I worked for Planned Parenthood for about 7 years so I pickup on some of this.
I got snipped 11yrs ago, and everything still works great, but no worries. I already have 4 hooligans, and do not need anymore, nor could the world stand the carbon footprint of my tribe being any larger.
Oral sex works pretty reliably too.
“Oral sex works pretty reliably too.”
Ya that will be real wonderful when you have limited washing.
“Taking Charge of your Fertility” is a great book on natural family planning. I’d also recommend looking up unassisted childbirth in case of an Oops.
I have a friend who is a doctor and once meantioned that 9 months after a big 5 day power outage in Albiquerqe NW the birth rate went through the roof. No tv equals more old fashioned forms of amusement. In a grid down situation there will be none of the various electronic enterntainment devices many of us use to veg after work.
In the northern Hemisphere in the winter there is 12 or 13 hours of darkness a day. Fuel will minimal and there will not be alot of other stuff to do. This is a topic which is inherantly practicle if slightly in the TMI area. If men and women are in the same place the odds are someone is going to want/need some sort of attention. Having a few extra boxes of condoms is a short term situation. For a longer one cervical caps would be very useful for vaginal sex. I think either planning for a long term sustainable method of birth control or serious medical training in traditional birthing methods would be prudent.
+1 for getting snipped prior to SHTF. Had mine done about 3 years ago, no regrets.
Frozen peas help.
Quite informative.
One practice that doesn’t seem to be a good idea is anal sex, since that seems to be the African method having sex without worrying about babies, and seems tied to the AIDS epidemic there.
An episode of Wild West Tech on Brothal Tech on History Channel had one diary by a working girl say she used a silver coin as an improvised IUD. They didn’t say if she ever got pregnant while using it, and I’m certain a foreign body such as a coin could lead to a vaginal infection, so it’s an idea that I wouldn’t try without much more research.
Native Americans did it 2 ways.
1.the woman put sand in her crotch to discourage attention. if you dont believe it,find a translation for Oglala.
2. Honey. doubles as a lubricant and a sperm trap. It also has therapeutic properties.
Honey also makes a damn fine wound dressing.
Cut or find a natural sea sponge in about the size of a baseball, soak the sponge in lemon juice or vinegar, place the wet but not sloppy wet sponge into a womens cavity. Proceed as normal with relation removing sponge and rinsing out the vag with lemon juice or vinegar immediatly after. The acid in the liquids kills sperm. Urine will also kill sperm but good luck getting a women to shove a pee soaked sponge up her bits.
NOTE: It must be real sea sponge.
This I saw in an old medical book discussing methods used by Egyptian women.
Makes sense. Vaginal acidity ideally kills the weaker sperm and allows the fittest to reach the egg. Increasing acidity might kill all the sperm.
Another method told me by some bikers – for the man – was to stay in a hot bath about a half hour, hot as you can stand. Then go hop in bed with the lady right away, and do what you want to do. The heat kills or immobilizes the sperm.
sort of redefines “hot date”!
However, sustained heat decreases fertility, which is why tight underwear reduces sperm counts. U can check this out under infertility causes/cures.
Frequent (not sure HOW frequent) sex with ejaculation depletes sperm. A man can only make so many at a time. Eventually you have just seminal fluid. I’ll let someone else research particulars on that. I’m sure there is a study somewhere.
Standard method worked for me and my wife. 20 years of marriage and we only got pregnant when we wanted too… in between those dates I had to use the barrier method, if you know what I mean…