These charts show the average number of women who accidentally get pregnant while using contraception over the course of one year.
- Typical Use: When contraception is not used every time, or it’s not used according to instructions every time.
- Perfect Use: When contraception is used every time, and it is used according to instructions.
| Hormonal Implants |
| Out of 100 Women Using Hormonal Implants |
| Typical Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| IUD (Intrauterine Device) LNG-IUS (Levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system) |
| Out of 100 Women Using an IUD: |
| Typical Use: 1 or Less Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Perfect Use: 1 or Less Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Copper IUD (Intrauterine Device) |
| Out of 100 Women Using a Copper IUD: |
| Typical Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Perfect Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Female Sterilization |
| Out of 100 Women Using Female Sterilization |
| Typical Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Perfect Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Hormonal Injections – Depo Provera- (Progesterone only) |
| Out of 100 Women Using Hormonal Injections: |
| Typical Use: 4 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
Estrogen/Progestin Hormonal Injections
(not currently available in the US) |
| Out of 100 Women Using Estrogen/Progestin Injections: |
| Typical Use: 6 or Less Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Birth Control Pills – Combination |
| Out of 100 Women Using Combination Birth Control Pills |
| Typical Use: 9 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Birth Control Pills – Progestin-Only |
| Out of 100 Women Using Progestin-Only Birth Control Pills |
| Typical Use: 7 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Hormone Patch – Ortho-Evra, Xulane |
| Out of 100 Women Using the Hormone Patch: |
| Typical Use: 7 Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Perfect Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Vaginal Hormonal Ring – NuvaRing®, Annovera™ |
| Out of 100 Women Using the Vaginal Hormonal Ring: |
| Typical Use: 7 Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Perfect Use: 1 or Fewer Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Diaphragm |
| Out of 100 Women Using a Diaphragm |
| Typical Use: 17 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 6 Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Contraceptive Sponges |
Out of 100 nulliparous* Women Using Contraceptive Sponges
*Nulliparous is a medical term that means a woman has never given birth to a baby |
| Typical Use: 17 Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Perfect Use: 9 Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Cervical Cap |
| Out of 100 nulliparous* Women Using a Cervical Cap*Nulliparous is a medical term that means a woman has never given birth to a baby |
| Typical Use: 14 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 9 Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Male Condoms |
| Out of 100 Women Using Male Condoms: |
| Typical Use: 13 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 2 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Female Condoms |
| Out of 100 Women Using Female Condoms |
| Typical Use: 21 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 5 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Withdrawal |
| Out of 100 Women Using Withdrawal: |
| Typical Use: 20 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 4 Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Lactational Amenorrhea Method |
| Out of 100 Women Using the LAM Method: |
| Typical Use: 2 Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Perfect Use: 2 Women Become Pregnant |
|
| Fertility Awareness Based Methods |
| Out of 100 Women Using Natural Family Planning: Numbers vary depending on method used |
| Typical Use: 14-25 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 1 to 5 (average 3) Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Spermicides |
| Out of 100 Women Using Spermicides: 21 |
| Typical Use: 28 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| Perfect Use: 18 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
| No Contraceptive Method |
| Out of 100 Women Using No Contraceptive Method |
| Typical Use: 85 Women Become Pregnant |
 |
https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/index.htm#Contraceptive-Effectiveness
Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.
