Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Flip

Original poster

Contraception, what are my options???

19 replies

Demented · 18/07/2004 14:31

I'm sure this has been well covered before but I just wanted to run something by all you knowledgeable people. I think my only option is the diaphram but wonder if I am missing something.

Basically anything with hormones in doesn't agree with me which rules out the pill and injection, I don't want to use the coil, I feel we are too young and too undecided about our family to send DH for the snip, don't particularly like condoms, does that only leave the diaphram?

OP posts:

rosies · 14/07/2004 08:56

i have had coils for the last eeks 25 years! they have either been copper T or 7. i have had 2 babies during that time, when the coil was removed for the purpose of having babies. i was lucky in as much as i fell pregnant the 1st month of trying. when the coil was removed the doctor wanted 3 periods before trying, in which time we reluctantly used a cap (yuck!).

i dont know about the minerva (sp) coil which has the hormones to more or less stop periods but there are a few posts knocking about where women have said they had bleeding for months... is that making up for when you dont have the periods?!

as for fitting coils, before children, the 1st one i had, yes that was painful and uncomfortable for a day or 2, but after kids, its a breeze.

having said all that... i dont even know if they do normal coils now. everyone always talks of the minerva ones.

mummytosteven · 14/07/2004 08:57

yeah they do normal ones today - they even do one called a gynefix which is meant to be a better shape so cause less problems

Original poster

Demented · 14/07/2004 13:29

The problem I have with the coil is linked with my anti-abortion stance, my conscience wouldn't allow me to use it, the fact that it allows the egg and the sperm to meet but just not implant.

I've got an appointment for a smear test in a couple of weeks and was going to sort out something contraception wise then (hence the question) but I think in view of the weight thing I will leave it until I have got down to a weight I am happy with, it'll be a good incentive to keep the weight off . Having another baby isn't in the plan just now but it wouldn't be the end of the world either so I feel reasonably happy about the diaghragm but we will continue with condoms just now.

Thanks for all your great advice!

Thanks for the link mummytosteven, I've had a good look at it.

hmb, are you a nurse? 63 children between the three of them!!!! Wow!

PS The rhythm method didn't even make the list! I'm waaay to disorganised for that!!!

OP posts:

hmb · 14/07/2004 15:46

Yup, 63 kids! I had to leave the area to find someone I wasn't related to, to marry!

No, I'm not a nurse, but I didn work in the medical information department of the UK's major manufacturer of contraceptives! So I can bore for Britain on the subject

hmb · 14/07/2004 15:49

And now I'm a science teacher, so I teach this to kids.

motherinferior · 18/07/2004 14:32

Suspect so.

Do NOT opt for relying on your body's natural rhythms in smug confidence about your predictable ovulation cycle. Dd1 is proof that this Does Not Work.

webmum · 18/07/2004 19:00

and so is my bump!!

mummytosteven · 18/07/2004 19:04

or femidom - female condom. ds1 justifies the joke - what do you call a couple who use the rythym method - parents tho i think if you are very strict and check mucus/temps etc it can be quite reliable tho suspect u would have to have professional tuition to make this work

hmb · 18/07/2004 19:05

Diaphragms would beit, I think. They can work very well, but they are not as effective as the pill or the coil. Used well they are almost as effective as a condom. The advantage over the condom is that you can put it in before you 'start' any thing and that neither of you should feel that it is there. You will have to use it with a spermicide for it to be effective. Downside is that they can fail. I used one for several years with great sucess.

There is a name for people who rely on 'natural rhythms', Parents

hmb · 18/07/2004 19:06

Oh, I'd forgotten the femidom. Offspring of a cross between a diaphragm and a sandwitch bag

mummytosteven · 18/07/2004 19:11

femidom never really caught on, did it

motherinferior · 18/07/2004 19:16

I have to admit I found the cap a bit difficult too - the spermicide irritated me I think.

I find the exhaustion produced by small children much the most effective libido killer around.

hmb · 18/07/2004 19:23

I think that the diaphragm is great for the women that it suits. I think that it is a shame it is often overlooked. When I used it, back in the mists of time I used it with the c-film spermicide sheet, which was great and not too messy. i'm not sure if it is even made any more, or recommended for use with a diaphragm.

I have to show kids what all these types of contraception look like. They are always horrified by the femidom!

mummytosteven · 18/07/2004 19:33

isn't there also a problem with diagraghm that if you put on more than a few kilos weight you have to get it refitted?

hmb · 18/07/2004 19:44

Yes, either way. And you need another fitting post pregnancy

Original poster

Demented · 18/07/2004 22:07

Never tried a femidom but funnily enough don't fancy it!

Motherinferior, why do you think I'm only looking into this now when my DS2 is 25 months!

Looks like contraception hasn't moved on too much since the last time I had to seriously consider it. The weight thing with the diaphragm bothers me a bit I would like to lose another half stone to a stone, would that be enough to need it refitted?

OP posts:

mummytosteven · 18/07/2004 22:12

here's a link to info about diaphragm - if you put on or lose 1/2 stone you would need to get checked

www.brook.org.uk/content/M2_1_8_cap.asp

californiagirl · 19/07/2004 09:34

I'm pretty sure DH's last accidental pregnancy was a diaphragm baby (that was a different relationship). DD, on the other hand, is a condom baby.

Personally, if I were you, I'd rethink the coil thing. I say this having felt the same way until DD, and then opting for a Mirena (from your point of view the worst of both worlds, as it is a coil + hormones, but it's not much hormones). I looked at diaphragms, but the effectiveness numbers put me right off. And DH was heartily opposed.

hmb · 19/07/2004 10:16

The Diaphragnm is not a good choice if you definatly don't want to get pregnant again. The coil is much more effective. That said I had the most awful time with the coil, and was bleeding three weeks out of 4. I have also met the odd 'coil' baby in my time.

Still, we are lucky to have as many choices as we do. In my mothers day it was the diaphragm or the condom. My grandmother had the condom or withdrawal! My great gran and ther two sisters had 63 children between them!

Flip