Proper Use of Condoms
If you and your partner have decided to use condoms as your method of contraception, you need to both make a committed effort to using condoms all of the time and properly. Just one act of unprotected sex can lead to an unwanted pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease or infection.
Read the directions for how to put on a condom that come with your condoms. Be sure that both partners know how to put on a condom for ease and comfort. If you don’t know how to put on a condom, practice on your penis, or on a cucumber, banana, or similarly phallic shaped object.
Put the condom on before the penis touches the vulva (the outer lips of the vagina). Even if a man hasn’t ejaculated, there can be pre-cum which can carry both sperm and viruses. You can get pregnant even if the penis is not inserted into the vagina (because semen on the vulva can get into the vagina).
The penis must be erect in order to put the condom on.
Steps to Putting on a Condom:
1. Put a drop of lubricant in the condom.
2. Pull back the foreskin before putting the condom on. (This does not apply to circumcised men).
3. Place the condom at the tip of the erect penis. Leave a half-inch space to collect the semen at the tip.
4. Squeeze the air out of the condom while you roll it out down over the penis to the base.
5. Lubricate the outside of the penis.
To safely remove a condom, you need to take it off while the penis is still erect. Hold the condom against the base of the penis so that you don’t spill any semen. Throw the condom away. Be sure to wash the penis off before any cuddling.
Be sure to know about condom storage and condom use as well.
