Birth Control Method Finder

Why five questions, and why these five

There are around a dozen contraceptive methods in common use, and comparing them all at once is genuinely hard — the effectiveness numbers look similar, and the real differences are about how a method fits your life. These five questions are the ones that actually eliminate options.

1. Can you use estrogen?

This is the only strictly medical question here, and it does the most filtering. Combined methods — the combined pill, the patch, and the ring — all contain estrogen, which raises the risk of blood clots. That risk is small for most people, but guidance from the NHS and ACOG advises against combined methods if you are 35 or older and smoke, get migraines with aura, have had a blood clot, or have uncontrolled high blood pressure or certain heart conditions.

If any of those apply, the tool removes all three combined methods and leaves the estrogen-free options. This is a starting filter, not a clinical assessment — your provider will ask more.

2. How much day-to-day effort suits you?

This is where most methods succeed or fail in practice. The gap between “perfect use” and “typical use” effectiveness is almost entirely about remembering. Long-acting methods like the implant and IUD have almost no gap, because there is nothing to remember. A daily pill has a meaningful one.

Being honest here matters more than picking the theoretically most effective option. See how effective the pill really is for what that gap looks like in numbers.

3. Do you want lighter periods?

Many people choose a method partly for what it does to bleeding. Hormonal IUDs and combined methods often make periods lighter, shorter, or absent. The implant and progestogen-only pill tend to make bleeding unpredictable rather than lighter. The copper IUD frequently makes periods heavier and more painful — which is worth knowing before having one fitted, not after.

4. Might you want to get pregnant within a year?

Almost every method allows a quick return to fertility. The contraceptive injection is the notable exception: it can take up to a year after the last dose. If pregnancy is on the horizon, that alone usually rules it out. See getting pregnant after stopping birth control.

5. Do you need STI protection?

Only condoms reduce STI transmission. No hormonal method and no IUD does. If you answer yes, everything except condoms gets filtered out — which is a slightly blunt result, and deliberately so, because the honest answer for most people is to use condoms alongside another method rather than instead of one.

What effectiveness numbers actually mean

You will see two figures quoted for every method. Perfect use is how well it works when used exactly as directed every single time. Typical use is how well it works for real people over a year, including missed pills, late injections, and condoms applied halfway through.

Typical use is the number that should drive your decision. A method that is 99% effective in theory and 91% in practice is a 91% method for most people. Our methods comparison lists both side by side.

What to bring to the appointment

• Your shortlist from this tool, and what drew you to each.
• Any medicines or supplements you take — some, including certain epilepsy medicines and St John's wort, reduce how well hormonal contraception works.
• Your medical history, especially clots, migraines, high blood pressure, or a family history of any of those.
• What matters most to you: effectiveness, no daily action, lighter periods, no hormones, or ease of stopping.

What this tool is not

It is a filter, not a recommendation, and there is a real difference. It does not know your medical history, what you are already taking, what a clinician would find on examination, or what is available and affordable where you live — and any of those can change the answer entirely. Nobody should start or stop contraception on the basis of a web page.

What it does do is get you to a shorter list and better questions, so the appointment is spent on the decision rather than the orientation. For the full picture on any method, our contraception hub covers each one in depth.

Your privacy

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