Today, the wonderful Scarleteen website published an article on ‘The Buddy System’, explaining the benefits behind using two forms of contraception at a time.
After a lot of statistical scribbles, the women behind this website have found that no combination leaves you with less than a 95 percent protection rate. The most effective form of contraception is the implant with condoms.
They are careful to admit that adding a third contraceptive method makes such a slight statistical difference that it is not worth dealing with and some pairings are not suitable, for example two hormonal forms of contraception or the nuva ring and spermacide.
In a time when the focus of contraceptive choice is being questioned, with more and more doctors recommending long term forms of contraception and the public appearing resistant to the suggestion, then ‘The Buddy System’ seems like a sensible half-way house.
You can find the article and Scarleteen’s calculations of the rates of protection for various combinations here.
