Contraception after baby?

[ChristmasBaby2021]

40 weeks pregnant with my first baby! Due to arrive any day now :)

I’m early 20s and it took us 6 months to conceive this baby. I would (if lucky enough and if we’d like to) have another in the future but at least a few years age gap. I would ideally (again if I can/am lucky enough) like this baby to be in school to avoid paying nursery fees for 2!

Something that’s swirled around my mind this last month is contraception after I’ve had baby. Obviously we probably won’t DTD for a good few weeks/months, it’s not an urgent thing to decide. But those 6 months, I really enjoyed being off the pill! My cycle took 3 months to regulate and my skin also flared up when I came off the pill.

Now at 40 weeks pregnant it’s the best it’s ever been and even when I got pregnant it was pretty good, my mood was good (apart from time of the month) and I just would love to not have to go back on the pill!

The thought of the coil really unsettles me I’ve heard bad stories about it - if you have any positive ones please share!

Condoms are an option I suppose but we enjoy not using them, they are a bit of a mood kill!

And I’m not assuming I am overly fertile but with cycle tracking we do pose the risk each month of pregnancy, and it takes the spontaneity out of sex if there’s certain days we can’t do it!

Any advice is welcomed here, really would love a hormone free contraceptive! As I say if we do want another child it isn’t any time soon, if we wanted a close age gap we’d probably use cycle tracking as the risk wouldn’t be a hassle.

Apologies if this is the completely wrong thread to post it on! Was a bit unsure

Hello

I know you’re not keen on the coil but I’ve had a good experience with the Mireya coil. I had a copper coil from 17 to 31 then went on the pill after having my first child. After my second I got the mirena coil fitted - it’s basically dealt with my acne and very irregular cycle. The nurse said I would t have any periods but in my case they are just every four weeks like clockwork.

@CruCru hi thank you! Do you mind me asking was your acne hormonal? Mine mainly is and the pill helped contain it but as soon as I came off it was worse than ever before and sooo painful

I’d like to manage it without extra hormones now but of course most contracetion is hormones!!

Hello

Yes, it probably was hormonal but my cycle was so irregular, it wasn’t always obvious.

One thing to mention - to get the coil put in or taken out you usually need to be on your period (so need to know when your period will be when you book the appointment).

I've used copper IUDs since my early 20s, before, between and after babies. I love them. Extremely reliable, zero hormones, zero effort. I only got my last one out because DH is now snipped. I never had to be on my period for insertion or removal.

Insertion was a bit ouchy for 1-2 seconds.

You can't get an IUD put in until 12 weeks postpartum generally so we just made do with condoms until then.

In between my two planned pregnancies I used the natural cycles app.

It's approved for contraception, but like all cycle tracking is only as good as the info you put in. You take your temperature every morning and it works out red and green days. You use barrier methods on the red days.

It takes a few months for it to learn your cycle and so at first you'll have lots of red days but the more you use the more green days you'll see.

You can adjust it to planning a pregnancy as well when the time is right.

For context it had taken us over 2 years to get pregnant with our first and 6 months with our second so not overly fertile either.

My cycles also returned immediately after giving birth despite exclusively breastfeeding (bled for 2 weeks then 4 weeks later my period came back!) my cycles returned to their standard regular pattern as well. Breastfeeding had no impact on them.

I refuse to use hormonal contraception again. I've also been diagnosed with a cervical ectropion which bleeds on hormones so they're not suitable for me anyway. We just use condoms now as we don't want any more kids and I'm awaiting surgery to fully close that door.

Have you ever tried the mini-pill (Yes it’s hormonal but no oestrogen so less side effects for a lot of women.) Also, I found breastfeeding fantastic hormonally. No periods and no PMS symptoms at all for a year in my case, although I was also taking the mini-pill which can stop periods too.