Birth Control: What Kind of Options Do You Have and How Do You Choose the Right One?
Show Notes:
[0:39] Our Reviewer of the Week, simply_sabrina_, said "I just LOVE this podcast. I found you just by searching pregnancy podcasts as I am currently almost 20 weeks pregnant with our rainbow baby. I’m naturally anxious and my ways to cope are often educating myself via reading or listening to podcasts. Finding this has been a lifesaver and has actually made me more comfortable with doing a natural delivery and standing in my decision. Even getting hubs into listening too! Going to be signing up for the birth course soon. Can’t wait!! And also thank you for creating this podcast!"
I love that you can just pop this in and feel good about whatever kind of birth you want to have. I will say it's been really interesting over the years to watch women feel empowered behind whatever decision they choose to make. 💜
[2:32] I want to talk about birth control options. It is going to be one of those controversial topics, right? Is this something I take for myself, different kinds of birth control, natural family planning method, etc. What are the options?
[5:45] This discussion comes up at your six-week postpartum appointment, if you have an OB, and they talk about all kinds of things, right? One of the questions they ask is what you're doing to prevent pregnancy.
[6:27] One option is called natural family planning. This is where you are not taking any kind of hormones, birth control pills, no patches, nothing inserted, etc. You keep track of your cycle, ovulation, body temperature, and when to have unprotected sex or not. It is also called "fertility awareness."
[8:31] There are 3 Fertility Signals to monitor. You're going to look at your cervical mucus, your basal body temperature, and the length of your menstrual cycle.
- Length of Cycle - When does it start? When does it stop? Is it "regular" (an average 28 day cycle)? Is it shorter? Is it longer?
- Basal Body Temperature - Waking up at the same time every morning to an alarm (before you naturally wake yourself up) and taking your temperature. Keep track.
- Cervical Mucus - Sticky egg white mucus means ovulation has occurred.
When you follow this method diligently, it's actually 97-99% effective. It takes a good three to six cycles to be reliable.
[11:54] The few disadvantage of fertility awareness are that illness can throw it off, figuring out when to take your basal body temperature, and needing to abstain during your fertile window.
[13:18] Another method is the Lactational Amenorrhea Method, which is when you're breastfeeding your baby and your cycle has not returned yet. There are some other factors to keep track of such as your menstrual cycle has not returned at all since you've had your baby, you are exclusively breastfeeding both day and night, and your baby is less than six months old. Anything after that is a wild card. This method is 98 percent effective at least for the first 6 months.
[15:30] Let's talk about IUD's, which are intrauterine devices. They are tiny T-shaped pieces of flexible plastic inserted into your cervix. For hormonal IUDs, they release a synthetic version of progesterone called progestin, and it thickens mucus in the cervix, which prevents sperm from getting to your eggs. IUD's are 99% effective.
[21:35] Another form of birth control is the pill. There's a mini pill and there's a combination pill. The mini pill contains only the synthetic form of progesterone. It's recommended over the combination pill for nursing moms. You're gonna have to stay on top of that and set an alarm on your phone, keep them in your bag with you at all times, whatever you have to do. You have to take it every day at the exact same time. It is 99 percent effective though when taken every day at the same time. So remember, you have to take it at the same time every day to grab that 99% effectiveness. The reality is, they're saying typical use will put it at about 91% because women just don't hit that perfectly every single day.
[23:46] There are surgical options such as a vasectomy (men) and tubal ligation (women). A vasectomy is basically outpatient surgery to block sperm from reaching the semen. The semen still exists, but it has no sperm in it. A urologist or surgeon will make two cuts on the scrotum, pull out the vas deferens, and cut, tie, or sear them. A tubal litigation is an outpatient surgery to block eggs from traveling into the fallopian tubes and the sperm from doing the same. The fallopian tubes are cut, tied, or blocked to permanently prevent pregnancy.
There's no right or wrong answer. It's going to be whatever you and your birth partner decide on how you guys want to plan having more children or not.
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