Like finding the right job for you or the right mate, finding the right birth control method requires you to know who you are and what you want. Before making a decision, a woman should discuss with her doctor which birth control method is best for her.

Safety

All of the currently prescribed birth control methods are nearly one hundred percent effective. However, only the pill has the benefit of fifty years of study for long-term effects. If you are concerned with the possibility of side effects or medical risks, you might decide to start with the pill. All prescription birth control takes time to leave your system. However, the pill appears to take less time for its effects to disappear than the other skin-absorption methods. Most women now take the lower dosage forms of birth control pills. The biphasic and triphasic pills are currently the most popular choices.

Convenience

If convenience is at the top of your list of priorities, the pill may not be the right choice for you. For example, you risk getting pregnant if you miss taking a pill at the right point in the month. If your occupation requires you to travel and keep a regimen that changes constantly, you may find it difficult to take your pill at the very same time each day. For that reason, you would be better off to use a method that is less dependent on daily doses. The most convenient method of prescription birth control for a woman with the most unpredictable schedule would be the tri-monthly injections. Setting up your doctor’s appointment at the time of each injection, you will insure the timeliness of your doses of birth control. The patch and the vaginal ring are also good choices for convenience.

Cost

If cost is a major factor in selecting the right birth control for you, you will want to limit the number of doctor visits. For that reason, the injection method may turn out to be the most expensive for you. Because each injection can cost around thirty-five dollars, the monthly injection method may turn out to be the most expensive, while the tri-monthly injection would be a third of the cost of the monthly injection. Not surprisingly, you pay for convenience. On the other hand, each vaginal ring costs around forty dollars and does not require a monthly doctor’s appointment. Birth control pills will probably turn out to be the least expensive method of taking prescription birth control, especially if you can get your prescription though Planned Parenthood or some other low-cost source. The cost of a month’s prescription at a clinic can run as low as twelve dollars. The average cost can range from twenty to thirty-five dollars plus the cost of a doctor’s visit.