Come tell me about the different types of contraception - I'm clueless!

[Jojobump1986]

So, DH & I have never really been overly concerned about contraception because we knew we wanted children & were happy for that to happen whenever it did. Well, it did & DS2 is due in a couple of weeks. In our grand plan we'd ideally like to wait about 4 years before discussing the option of having more so we're not ready for anything permanent quite yet.

I've had depression & anxiety problems in the past so I'm very wary of messing around with my hormones. Am I correct in thinking that the copper coil is the only non-hormone, longer-term method of contraception? I read that it works by aggravating the uterus & therefore preventing implementation, is that right? I'm generally of the opinion that once the egg is fertilised then it's a potential baby so I'm not keen on interfering with the natural progression of things after that point.

Are condoms our only realistic option? I know other methods are more effective but I'm not sure it's worth the risk of me going back to my depression/anxiety days while having 2 small children to look after. It'd make things a little tight if we had more children soon but we'd get by so it wouldn't be a disaster if I did get pregnant again!

I hate discussing these things even with the doctor - my mind goes blank & I tend to just do as I'm told without asking questions. I'd really like to be prepared for the "how are you going to stop this happening again?" questions they seem to ask as soon as the baby's born!

[AMumInScotland]

I think you may find you have to compromise. AFAIK if you feel it is important to prevent fertilisation of the egg, then you either need to be looking at methods which prevent you ovulating (combined pill, possibly implant or injection but I'm not sure) or barrier methods to stop the egg and sperm meeting (condoms, diaphragm, etc).

The coil prevents implantation, and I think the mini-pill works that way too.

So, if you don't want to risk the hormones, I think it may have to be condoms. You could maybe combine that with one of the methods of finding your most fertile times to reduce the probability further. Or take the risk and get DH to have a vasectomy once you feel you have enough children?

[christinarossetti]

Diaphrams are definitely 'wouldn't be a disaster if I got pregnant' type of contraception imvhe.