Traditional Methods

  • Withdrawal (coitus interruptus)
  1. Man withdraws his penis from his partner’s vagina, and ejaculates outside the vagina, keeping semen away from her external genital
  2. Tries to keep sperm out of the woman’s body, preventing fertilization
  3. 73% effective. One of the least effective methods, because proper timing of withdrawal is often difficult to determine


  • Fertility awareness methods (natural family planning or periodic abstinence)
  1. Calendar-based methods: keep track of days of the menstrual cycle to identify the start and end of the fertile time. Include Standard Days Method and calendar rhythm method.
  2. Symptom-based methods: monitoring cervical mucus and body temperature. Includes TwoDay Method, Basal body temperature (BBT) method, Ovulation method and Symptothermal method.
  3. The couple prevents pregnancy by avoiding unprotected vaginal sex during most fertile days, usually by abstaining or by using condoms
  4. 75% effective.

Source: WHO, 2011