Strollerderby

Using Bread and Chicken Skin for Birth Control

Posted by jeannesager on September 7th, 2009 at 12:28 pm

chicken skin 300x225 Using Bread and Chicken Skin for Birth ControlAnd you thought the old wives tales from your gran were weird: a new survey of British women brought out reports of using everything from chicken skin to bread as birth control.

Yes, you read that right. Women are turning to the kitchen in search of the miracle that will keep them from landing a bun in their oven.

Surprise, surprise: it ‘isn’t working.

The survey, performed on behalf of Bayer Schering Pharma, was meant to find why British women have the highest rates of unintended pregnancy and highest rate of teenage pregnancy in all of Europe, despite being a fairly advanced country.

The number one tall tale for warding off pregnancy from my teenage years was the “pee immediately after sex” cure (supposedly the urine would wash out all the naughty sperm). But I can’t say any of us even dreamed of these picks from the Brits survey:

1. Bread, cling film (aka plastic wrap) and chicken skin can be used instead of condoms.

2. Drinking Coca-Cola or eating crisps (aka potato chips), chocolate or kebabs can be an oral contraceptive.

Less off-the-wall but still disturbing: they found the idea that the pill could prevent HIV was a persistent myth, as was the idea that it could take years to regain fertility after going off the pill.

What are some of the weirdest ways to ward off pregnancy that you’ve heard?

Image: Adactio via Flickr

 Using Bread and Chicken Skin for Birth Control

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0 Comments

abstinence only

GP commented on Sep 07 09 at 2:54 pm

Growing up there were persistent myths going around all through grade school, jr. high and even high school that you couldn’t get pregnant the first time you had sex and that sex in a pool or hot tub would prevent pregnancy. I can’t remember others, although it seems like there was a lot. I often think if parents heard the nonsense kids and teens tell each other about sex (yes, even kids who aren’t having any) that everyone would be for sex ed in schools.

Marj commented on Sep 07 09 at 4:27 pm

I heard a story that my mother-in-law only took her birth control pills after having sex. My husband is the oldest of seven kids…

Mistress_Scorpio commented on Sep 07 09 at 4:45 pm

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