Avoiding Pregnancy
Pregnancy Prevention
We can help you find the pregnancy prevention method that works best for you at this time in your life. You know what has and has not worked well for you in the past, and we will listen to your experience and priorities in order to help you get the best fit for your lifestyle and medical needs at this stage of your life. The best choice for you will be different whether you're a childless teenager, hoping for a pregnancy in a couple years, never want to get pregnant, or are in perimenopause. Whatever your goals, we'll help you figure it out.
We can help you with all non-permanent methods:
- Fertility Awareness methods of natural family planning work by systematically following your body's measurable signs to either achieve or prevent pregnancy in cooperation with your partner. You can collect the date on paper, or use smart devices and apps to learn when you can and cannot get pregnant. This can be a great way to get in tune with your body's rhythms after many years of hormonal family planning, or while preparing to invite a pregnancy. They are also compatible with certain religious beliefs, and can help you collect data you can take to a specialist if you're dealing with situations such as infertility, irregular cycles, or endometriosis. We believe anyone can benefit from knowing how this stuff works!
- Barrier methods: condoms or diaphragms, in combination with spermicide (it kills sperm and is available without a prescription where they sell condoms).
- "the Pill", "patch" or "ring: hormonal methods with or without estrogen for very effective pregnancy prevention and also for medical uses (painful periods, menstrual migraine, severe premenstrual mood changes, etc). Available as a daily pill, a weekly patch, or a monthly vaginal ring.
- Intrauterine devices (IUD's): with or without hormones for pregnancy prevention that's as effective as surgery without being permanent. Hormonal IUD's are also effective treatment for difficult periods. We can remove and place these for you (if your insurance agrees to mail us the device, plans vary in how they handle this).
- Hormonal implants that are effective for three years. We can remove and place these for you (if your insurance agrees to mail us the device).
We are considerate of your time and try to get as much done ahead of time, or in one visit, as is medically appropriate. For example:
- we can bundle an annual exam with an IUD exchange
- we can start you on the pill a week before removing an IUD or implant so your new method is fully effective by the time the old one is removed, avoiding a gap in protection.
Whatever method you choose, we will do our best to help you know all the ins and outs of your method, its side effects, medication interactions, and how to stay safe while enjoying a healthy sex life without worries about getting pregnant. And we'll troubleshoot with you if issues come up.