Pregnancy and Condoms?

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timothy2018

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I don’t know if this should go here or in another place so I will just start here.

It is a little long so I will post a quick summary question with the background below.
Can a married couple use condoms during pregnancy?

I have also done a quick search of the forums and found hundreds of posts about NFP and how condoms are bad. I already understand that and the effectiveness of NFP or condoms is not my concern.

All that being said my wife is pregnant with our second child and with both pregnancies she has had cases of bacterial vaginosis (BV). This is not an STD but a bacterial imbalance. They treat with site application antibiotics which say not to use during pregnancy. If we don’t treat the bacterial imbalance the chance for a premature birth is very possible.

It is odd that when my wife gets pregnant she gets BV and we have heard that males can be carriers. I called her doctor to see if I could be tested and get some medication if I was carrying and this is what they told me.

At this time it is not thought that men can carry BV so you are not infected. The cause is that during pregnancy a woman’s body reacts differently to semen and her feminine secretions change more drastically after intercourse. To avoid this change you might try condoms during pregnancy.

What are your thoughts?

I don’t want to make her keep having to go through this “dangerous” treatment but I also would like to stay within the Catholic teaching that birth control is morally wrong.

Thanks so much
 
timothy2018 said:
Can a married couple use condoms during pregnancy?
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The Vatican’s position has consistently been “no” on the topic is condom use for disease prevention even if the intention is not pregnancy prevention.
 
I thought that condoms were only banned due to the fact that they prevent you from being open to having children? And it is not disease prevention, it is simply keeping the semen from feeding the bacteria. Do you have any literature to back this up?

I’m not being confrontational, I am just curious because I have not heard this before, and it seems hard to believe.
 
I’m sorry to hear you’re faced with a difficult situation. Whatever the decision, the risk of premature labor is not something to take lightly. Infections do raise the risk. I don’t know by how much in any particular case but I would really recommend talking to doctors about you and your wife’s situation in detail. I hope you have supportive people to help.
 
Ok, after a little research i don’t believe this to be true. The Pope recently spoke and said that ‘condoms were a lesser evil than HIV’. Here is a link to the article :

nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/europe/24pope.html

If they are ok to use to prevent HIV, surely they are ok to prevent Vaginosis during pregnancy, especially since Vaginosis is not a sexually transmitted disease? I believe the OP should take this up with his priest, it is more personal than something that can be broadly answered on a forum.

Best luck, I hope your wife has a happy, safe, and healthy pregnancy.
 
themeginthemoon said:
Ok, after a little research i don’t believe this to be true. The Pope recently spoke and said that ‘condoms were a lesser evil than HIV’.
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No, the Pope did not say any such thing.
themeginthemoon said:
Here is a link to the article :

nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/europe/24pope.html
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This is not an accurate article. The media grossly distorted what the Pope actually did say.
themeginthemoon said:
If they are ok to use to prevent HIV,
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It is not “ok.” The Church’s position is unambigous on this topic.
 
Alright, from what I understand the problem with a condom for disease prevention is that is destroys the unitive aspect of sexual intercourse. What that means more specifically is that Tab A must deposit ejaculate in Slot B for the act to be properly ordered. Now notice there is nothing said about exactly how much ejaculate needs to be deposited. So take a pin and poke a hole in your condom, and, voila, the act she is properly ordered.
 
Women are allowed to use ABC for medical purposes, so long as the ABC is not being used to artifically prevent pregnancy.

You could speak to your priest to clarify the issues involved.

In that your wife is already pregnant (and it isn’t physically possible for her to conceive again until the birth of your child) the use of a condom for medical reasons (protection of the developing fetus) may be justifiable.

Also, you might email or call the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
[ncbcenter.org/NetCommunity//](http://www.ncbcenter.org/NetCommunity//)
 
themeginthemoon said:
Ok, after a little research i don’t believe this to be true. The Pope recently spoke and said that ‘condoms were a lesser evil than HIV’. Here is a link to the article :

nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/europe/24pope.html

If they are ok to use to prevent HIV, surely they are ok to prevent Vaginosis during pregnancy, especially since Vaginosis is not a sexually transmitted disease? I believe the OP should take this up with his priest, it is more personal than something that can be broadly answered on a forum.

Best luck, I hope your wife has a happy, safe, and healthy pregnancy.
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The NYT is so anti-Catholic - Fr. Groeschel is always up in arms over their negative and grossly inaccurate reporting.

The Pope said that for male homosexuals who are carrying the AIDS virus; in that their sexual acts are disordered and gravely wrong, that the use of a condom would be “a lesser evil.”

cathedralsaintpaul.org/popes-comments
 
bkayw said:
Women are allowed to use ABC for medical purposes, so long as the ABC is not being used to artifically prevent pregnancy.

You could speak to your priest to clarify the issues involved.

In that your wife is already pregnant (and it isn’t physically possible for her to conceive again until the birth of your child) the use of a condom for medical reasons (protection of the developing fetus) may be justifiable.

Also, you might email or call the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
Code: 
[ncbcenter.org/NetCommunity//](http://www.ncbcenter.org/NetCommunity//)
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I second this.
 
I personally think that the health and well being of the Mother and Child FAR outway any sin involved in using a condom. Obviously since she is already pregnant making love is not going to produce another pregnancy, so there is no sin of “not being open to life”…I think we all need to remember that the Churches teachings and view on condoms has not caught up to the fact that STDs are rampant in not only the US but everywhere.

Maybe if the church understood this, we wouldn’t be dealing with scary statistics like 1-4 have ABC and 1 in 10 have XYZ.

However, I really think that the safety of the mother and child make this an exception to the general rule
 
The safety of the Mother and Child are the most important part of the equation here. Since the use of a condom will not guarantee that she is not going to get BV (Bacteria can get around a condom, so if you are a carrier it might not help), and the lubricant or spermicide on the Condom could also throw off her vaginal chemistry, my question would be…why are you running the risk?

Premature Labor is a big deal and you have already stated the antibiotics are not good for pregnant women. Why not until after the baby is safely delivered. No one ever died from abstaining for a couple months. Is sex that integral to your marriage to risk the health of your wife and child over?
 
I was just thinking that the lubricant and spermacides on the condom could cause more harm then good.

Have you considered simply “pulling out” instead of ejacuating into her? That might be your best bet.
 
Thank you all for your responses. I do plan on talking with a priest about the matter but that may be a while so I thought I would see what you all thought.

With the last pregnancy she only got BV once so it might just be a body changing thing that will/did work itself out over time.

I absolutely place the live and well being of my wife and child most important. I am the first to admit that I am selfish and that I do enjoy sex and it is fun but I am also no stranger to long times of abstinence in marriage.

Thank you for the comment about the lubrication on the condom, I hadn’t thought about that either.

I think that since she only had BV once during the last pregnancy we are going to continue without condoms and see how it goes.

Thanks again
 
There are some antibiotics that absolutely must be avoided during pregnancy, but there are others that are generally considered safe. Am I understanding correctly that she was treated with topical antibiotics that had a warning that they should not be used during pregnancy?

Something else she could try is eating yogurt. I don’t believe it’s been proven scientifically, but it can help to balance bacteria.
 
I am glad that it is not as much of a problem as it used to be! 🙂 I hope that she doesn’t get any bouts of BV this time around. Abstinence may be the best protocol if you are 100% adamant on avoiding potential sin, but I know how tough it can be during pregnancy when you just crave that physical bond sometimes.

You sound like a strong couple!

God Bless,
M
 
bkayw said:
Women are allowed to use ABC for medical purposes, so long as the ABC is not being used to artifically prevent pregnancy.
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That’s not exactly correct. Women are allowed to use ABC if it is intended to treat a disease or condition, even if it also has the effect of preventing pregnancy.

Some hormonal birth control pills may also be prescribed to regulate hormonal levels or to treat fibroids or abnormal bleeding. This is an example of a legitimate use of ABC. I don’t know of any case where a condom actually treats a disease or condition.
 
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