How Well Does the Rhythm Method Work?
The rhythm method is not a reliable way to prevent pregnancy for most young people who are sexually active. Over the course of a year, as many as 25 out of 100 typical couples who rely on the rhythm method to prevent pregnancy will have an accidental pregnancy. Of course, this is an average, and the chance of getting pregnant depends on whether a couple uses one or more of the rhythm method tools correctly and consistently to ensure that they do not have unprotected sex during the fertile period. In general, how well each type of birth control method works depends on many different factors. These include any health conditions the young woman may have or any medications she may be taking. In the case of the rhythm method, it depends on how consistent her cycle is and how accurately the couple tracks when she could be ovulating.
