Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

To think condoms alone are a sufficient form of contraception?

91 replies

ShineSmile · 28/05/2014 13:21

I do need a fool proof form of contraception as I can't have more children now.

I was thinking of getting a copper coil fitted alongside using condoms, but it has been difficult getting a convenient appointment at the local family health planning clinic (need someone to look after baby whilst I go). They also said they have no gas and air for pain relief, and I'm slightly dreading it.

So AIBU to think just condoms are sufficient as a form of contraception? I don't want to take any hormone contraception.

OP posts:

Feminine · 28/05/2014 13:52

I don't understand how even if a couple has a condom failure, they only realize it when they get a positive pregnancy test.

Maybe too much info, but DH checks the condom afterwards to make sure it is full/not split.

I think you would have to be half asleep not to notice when a condom doesn't work out.

Then if you really don't want a pregnancy you take the MAP surely?

It is down to human error when a conception takes place whilst using condoms.

It is impossible not to know when they split.

Feminine · 28/05/2014 13:53

burren x-posted, exactly...

intheenddotcom · 28/05/2014 13:53

No method of contraception is 100%. If you never can have kids then get sterilized. FWIW I never got pregnant using just condoms or just the bill.

Feminine · 28/05/2014 13:55

Shagging without , then clumsily shoving one at the end...will not work.

That is where I suspect these condom babies come from .

NinjaLeprechaun · 28/05/2014 14:01

If condoms never broke, I wouldn't be here.

Having said that, it was the only form of contraception I used for about 8 years without incident.

specialsubject · 28/05/2014 14:04

get sterilised, or get him snipped.

once the op is done and the tests done, your baby years are definitely over.

condoms can split which means the MAP, and you say you don't want to take hormones.

TheFallenMadonna · 28/05/2014 14:05

We just used condoms for years. Each time we wanted to conceive, it happened first or second cycle, and we had no unplanned conceptions. We didn't forget to use them though, nor did we use them incorrectly.

My sister got pregnant on the pill, so no guarantees anywhere I think.

When we decided we were definitely done, DH had a vasectomy.

TheFallenMadonna · 28/05/2014 14:06

I agree that if you absolutely cannot have more children, you need one of you to be sterilised/snipped.

meditrina · 28/05/2014 14:08

You need to think carefully about surgery.

And bear in mind that neither male nor female sterilisation is 100% either (and can fail late, after all clears). The fail rate of LARCs is similar to that of surgery.

Kendodd · 28/05/2014 14:11

I got pregnant through a condom. Nothing happened to it, it didn't split, leak, we didn't just put it on at the end and we had used condoms for years so were used to using them.

I didn't take the MAP because I had no idea the condom had failed.

If you absolutely can not have a baby I would use something else as well even if it's only ovulation prediction then only have sex in the 'safe' window and using a condom as well.

MummytoMog · 28/05/2014 14:12

I had my copper coil fitted without any pain relief and it was completely fine. Take some paracetemol before you go if you're worried, but there was a tiny ouch as she used the sound to check my uterus, then it was fine.

I did however fall pregnant after it came out, while using condoms. Admittedly because my husband is an idiot and used a slightly questionable condom, but still I'm pregnant with a baby that is unplanned and really really inconvenient, and that wouldn't have happened if I'd had my coil replaced (it came loose after about ten vigorous internal ultrasounds, so I don't think they come out all that often). I loved it as a form of contraception and will definitely be having another one after I have this baby.

AnonButRegular · 28/05/2014 14:14

Gas and air? For a coil fitting? Is that necessary?

MummytoMog · 28/05/2014 14:16

No sign that our condom hadn't worked, until a few weeks later when 'food poisoning' turned out to be a baby. No tears or rips or anything, assume it was a teeny hole.

Sallyingforth · 28/05/2014 14:20

While not denying that it must happen, I'd like to know how conception can occur if the condom is used correctly and it has been checked for leaks afterwards. Sperm can't pass through rubber.

Kendodd · 28/05/2014 14:22

I'd like to know how conception can occur if the condom is used correctly and it has been checked for leaks afterwards

Yes, so would I.

somedizzywhore1804 · 28/05/2014 14:23

Another one who had a coil fitted without pain relief and that was before I had a baby. It's not top of my list of activities to do for fun but it wasn't terrible.

Thanks too to the poster who posted the failure rate of contraception. This has swayed me re getting a copper coil after the birth of DC1 in July.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 28/05/2014 14:27

At least with a condom you can see that it has failed and make swift steps.

I assume with a coil etc you wait to see if aby symptons occur.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 28/05/2014 14:27

At least with a condom you can see that it has failed and make swift steps.

I assume with a coil etc you wait to see if aby symptons occur.

ziggy13 · 28/05/2014 14:45

YABU, they are not. DS1 is proof of that

Pumpkinpositive · 28/05/2014 14:56

But what can offer a 100% rate?

ABSTINENCE, as my dear mother would frequently say.

I've used condoms alone, then wimped out the next day and ran off to Boots to get the MAP.

MrsKoala · 28/05/2014 15:01

i've had copper coils on and off since 16yo (so way before DC) and altho it is painful it's not that bad. I've never even thought about requesting gas and air for it. Take the strongest painkillers you have before your appointment (paracetamol and codeine or Ibruprofen works for me) and its fine.

I've also used condoms for all the 'between times' and used them between babies as i couldn't be arsed getting one put in for 2 years when we find using condoms so easy. DH has always used condoms and was not really bothered about stopping when i had the coil fitted. You need to use it properly and check and then if anything is amiss get the MAP (i wouldn't wait for a pregnancy test if i was in doubt) but i've never had a 'malfunction' and needed to do that.

BitchPeas · 28/05/2014 15:26

Conceived DS on injection. Conceived another baby on the pill although I sadly lost that one at 13 weeks.

Have never ever had a problem with condoms and have been using them for years since then.

We don't like drunk sex so maybe that's why!

DragonMamma · 28/05/2014 15:40

I conceived whilst on the pill and first cycle with dc2 and we've been using condoms for a couple of years as the pill made me crazy and I'm scared to have the injection or implant in case I turn into an eating machine!

Although reading this I'm now petrified that I'll get pregnant even using them correctly!

Berts · 28/05/2014 15:46

I had a coil fitted - had a diclofenac and a co-codamol an hour before, just felt an uncomfortable pinch, over in 2 minutes.

PlaceBeyond · 28/05/2014 15:48

But even if you've noticed a condom failure, the MAP isn't highly reliable either - 95% if taken within 24 hours, 85% if taken 25-48 hours (and many women can't/don't get it within 24 hours due to working hours/getting to a chemist.) But even 95% is significantly less reliable than LARC methods like the coil.

Flip

1 2 3 4