Although condoms are an effective birth control method used by many, there are many women and men who prefer not to use them. If you are not interested in handling the issue of the birth and upbringing of a child, it is important that you take the time to familiarize yourself with the other options that you have for birth control. A few of those other options, outlined below, are ones that may not be as well-known or as popular as condoms, but they are typically just as effective.

Birth control pills are a hormonal form of birth control. Birth control pills require the taking of a pill each and everyday of the month. Birth control pills are known as being effective, as long as they are taken as directed. As with many other medications, birth control pills are not ideal for smokers, as they may cause additional health complications. With a large selection of birth control pills, including ones that eliminate your menstrual period, you are sure to find something that can offer you assistance.

Aside from condoms and birth control, the next most popular form of birth control is another hormonal method. This birth control method is commonly referred to as the Depo shot. The Depo shot has one main downfall and that is that it has been linked to a poor absorption of calcium. That is why many Depo users are urged to take calcium supplements each day. What is nice about the Depo shot is that it is not only effective at preventing pregnancy, but it is also administered on a three-month schedule and periods are often a thing of the past.

Although not as popular as condoms, the Depo shot, and birth control pills, IUDs are also effective forms of birth control. IUDs are known as Intra-Uterine Devices. Intra-Uterine Devices (IUDs) come in a number of different formats, but they are still designed to protect you from pregnancy. This is either done with the use of a copper device, which is spermicidal, or ones that release progestin. 

The above mentioned birth control methods are actually just a few of the many that exist, but these birth control methods are designed to prevent pregnancy right from the start. Should you find yourself in an emergency situation, it is important to know that you have a number of different options, including emergency contraceptives. These emergency contraceptives can be obtained through your doctor’s office or your local pharmacy. Despite being able to offer you assistance, it is important that you do not use abortion or even emergency contraceptives as a form of birth control. If that is what you have been doing, you have a whole other set of issues that need to be dealt with.

As a reminder, the above mentioned birth control methods can all help to prevent you from becoming pregnant. With that in mind, the only method of birth control, at this moment, that can protect you from sexually transmitted disease is that of a condom.

The amazing thing about the Chinese Gender Chart is that it can predict the gender of babies long before a mother’s conception and that its accuracy rate is higher than 90%. The prediction is only based on two factors: the mother’s age of conception and the month of conception (see http://www.chinesegenderchart.info/pregnancy-chart-gender-selection/howitwork.html.) So, if a baby is conceived in June when the woman is 30, she will give birth to a girl. And if a baby is conceived in August when the woman is 22, she will give birth to a boy. The most unusual thing associated with the Chinese Gender Chart is that it is the women who determine the sex of the children; this differs from all medical books that tell you that it is the presence or absence of the Y chromosome from men that determine the sex of the children. Recent medical studies have found that it is the woman’s ovum membrane that chooses whether to fertilize with the X or Y sperm from men. So it is more appropriate to say that it is the female that chooses the sex of the baby (by virtue of selecting which sperm to mate with) and the male only determines the sex of the baby after conception. And this is exactly what the ancient Chinese pointed out.

There are many advantages to using the Chinese Gender Chart: It is 100% free, 100% natural, and it is absolutely safe. But a lot of people who have tested the Chinese Gender Chart conclude that the accuracy of the chart is no better than flipping a coin. What they don’t know is that, to use the Chart, one must follow several rules:

1. The Chinese Gender Chart is based on the lunar calendar.

2. A newborn baby is already one-year old.

3. You don’t choose the first and last ten days of a gender period for conception.

4. You don’t choose to conceive in Chinese leap months.

There is nothing wrong in preferring a baby boy after having two or three girls. You may also consider choosing a specific gender if your family has certain sex-related illnesses. Although there is still no scientific proof of why the chart works, choosing a specific sex by using the Chinese Gender Chart is still the best alternative to more expensive gender selection methods like MicroSort and PGD.

For more information and examples about the Chinese Gender Chart, please visit http://www.chinesegenderchart.info

When it comes to selecting a child’s gender at birth, the Ancient Chinese provides a detailed and pretty impressive Pregnancy Gender Selection Chart (or Chinese Gender Conception Calendar), which gives a systematic prediction on the gender of a baby based on two factors; (a) the age of conception of the mother, as well as (b) the month of conception.

This Pregnancy Gender Selection Chart is not to be confused with the better known Four Pillars Birth Chart (or Bazi) in the field of Feng Shui. The Four Pillars Reading is used for predicting the fortunes of a person based on his birth information, where else the Pregnancy Gender Selection Chart is meant for pre-determining the gender of a child at the conception and pregnancy stages.

This rather well-known Chart was discovered in the Ming’s Tomb and is apparently kept by the Imperial Family. However, there are in effect numerous similar gender selection guides circulating among the Chinese population, especially in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This Chart produced here is meant purely for leisure read.

There is no scientific basis on its prediction, although older generations of Chinese have proclaimed it to be highly accurate. Some feel that after all, with the largest population in the world, the Chinese got to know a thing or two about childbirths. In effect, with only 2 gender selections in the word (i.e. either boy or girl), no prediction mechanisms, either ancient or modern, will do far wrong if they do not deviate too far from the 50% benchmark.

Although this method of gender selection is safe and natural, it is not meant to be a serious alternative to modern medical science. In modern society as we know of, there are indeed couples who do have problems producing either boys or girls, and the problem can be attributed to both the Father and Mother, and not solely to the Mother in the case of the traditional Chinese Pregnancy Gender Selection Chart. These can be affected by many modern factors not found in Ancient China, including radio waves activities exposed to from modern equipments.

See the Chinese Pregnancy Gender Selection Chart and read more about its usage and origi n at the Chinese Pregnancy Gender Selection Chart .

Copyright @ www.eChinaExpat.Com

Interested in China and the Chinese Culture? Read more China articles by Linus Leong at http://www.echinaexpat.com/ .

Linus is an expat living in China. He writes about China and the Chinese Culture for eChinaExpat.Com, a platform for Chinese Culture, China Travel, Feng Shui and general China expat tips for expatriates and tourists living in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and other China cities.

 

The recent studies taken on low-dose (low estrogen) pills have indicated the nominal change in the weight. Weight gain while taking pills could be possible in few but not necessarily be at alarming situation. If the weight gain is due to pills then it could be a temporary phenomena and certainly not permanent. Analysts have pointed out that 5-10% women adding few pounds while they are taking birth control pills but there is similar number of women who are gaining weight but not on pills at all. Weight gain could be due to fluid retention in the body (occurs other than the pills) and fat deposition. Some women may be sensitive to either of these and experience weight gain regardless of birth control pills.

How much weight gain could be possible on birth control pills?

It is usually argued that birth control pills, specially higher dose of estrogen pills (more than 30 mcgm), cause more weight than birth control injection like Depo Provera. Studies have revealed that women using high dose pills tend to gain 5.3 lb in a year compared to women who are taking Depo Provera as contraception and gaining 6.6 lb (2.2 kg) in a year’s time. However, analysts have further found that only 7% women who were taking pills got more than 10% of they body weight. But women who were taking shots for Depo Provera, 25% of them gained more than 10% of their body weight. If you compare 5.3 lb weight due to pills with 6.6 lb weight gained due to birth control injection, you will notice that not only women who are on birth control pills get lesser weight in a year than birth control injection method but also at lesser risk of weight gain.

Moreover, most of the recent studies on lower estrogen hormone based pills (30 mcgm or less) have shown weight loss or no change, if continued to take for a year.

But birth control pills may cause fluid retention, isn’t it true?

It can not denied that pills containing high doses of estrogen may cause fluid retention in the body, specially if the pill has 50 mcgm estrogen or more. How it happens? Well, high doses of estrogen stimulate kidney-substances like renin-angiotensin, which is responsible for water retention that again causes sodium (salt) retention that ultimately causes the weight gain. Studies on different levels of estrogen based birth control pills revealed that pills having less than 20 mcgm estrogen reduce weight, 30 mcgm pills make no difference in the weight or nominal loss of weight whereas 50 mcgm pills cause fluid retention and weight gain.

If you are on birth control pill and experiencing more than 5% of your body weight gain in a year, it may be due to your body’s reaction to insulin resistance or abnormal glucose metabolism. You need to consult your healthcare professional to adopt low carbohydrate diet because high amount of sugar in any meal will offset your weight control efforts.

Besides, low estrogen, what other types of birth control pills can affect on weight?

The combined pills containing desogestrel type of progestin and low dose of estrogen would cause very little weight gain compared to the pills containing norethindrone (like Ortho Novum 7/7/7®). This is possibly due to specific progestin causing weight gain mainly due to lesser insulin resistance. Low estrogen can be found in the birth control pills like Alesse, Loestrin Fe, Mircette etc. If you are experiencing weight gain or fluid retention symptoms from your present birth control pills, you can consult your healthcare professional or doctor to know which birth control pills are suitable for you.

You may also visit at http://www.mybirthcontrolstore.com/birth-control-pills.html to look at the comparative study of the different level of hormones used in various birth control pills. The above article is for general information on weight gain and fluid retention problems associated with birth control pills and should not be taken as medical advice. If it is so, please consult your doctor or physician for treatment purpose.