Contraception?

[myotherbagisgucci]

I know this is early to be thinking about such things, but I like to be organised and I don't want to risk anything.

I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant and I also have a 14 month old. Both of these were planned, but DH and I only ever wanted two children.

Ive not taken any form of contraception in over 10 years (DC1 took us 7 years) so I don't have a clue what's best to take and what's the more reliable.

Which form would you recommend? Pill, coil, implant?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Are you going to breastfeed? Mini pill, mirena, copper coil, depo injection, implant are all ok with bf. If you want the combined pill then you wouldn't start it until 6 weeks after birth as it can affect milk supply. If you aren't bf then it can be started 21 days after birth

Thanks @dementedpixie no I won't be breastfeeding. X

Would your dh consider vasectomy?

Watching with interest. Also after something that doesn't give me the rage.

@physicskate it is something we've discussed and he is open to having one. But personally I would like to wait until both DC's are at school, before we make a permanent decision to stick at 2 children.

If you don't have troublesome periods I would give the IUD a try. I'm on my third and love them. Hormones squelch my drive and I love the reliability and reversibility of the coil. Once we are really sure we are done DH will have the snip.

Another vote for an IUD. The attraction for me was that fertility returns to normal as soon as it’s removed unlike other hormonal contraceptives (that’s what I was told anyway and I had no trouble conceiving). And not having to remember to take pills was fantastic. I’ll be getting one in again as soon as baby is born.

I hadn’t had children so the insertion was pretty uncomfortable but apparently once you’ve had a baby it’s much easier. Removal was fine.

Thank you, do you still get periods with a IUD?

IUD = copper coil
IUS = mirena/jaydess coil

Copper coil has no hormones. It can make periods longer and more painful.

Mirena/jaydess coil does contain hormones. It stopped my periods. Some people still bleed on it and it can be erratic or prolonged. I did have difficulty getting mine removed and it was taken out under general anaesthetic

If you're certain you don't want amymore children would you consider sterilisation? I had it done 17 months ago and it was a good decision for me.

I've got the copper coil, hormonal contraceptives including the Merina coil just didn't suit me. My periods are a bit heavy for two days, but otherwise length hasn't changed. Had period pains on the first period, but none since. I've had in fitted for five months now and so much happier on it

@Chocolatecoffeeaddict at the moment I'm sure I don't want anymore, but I feel like I should wait a few years before making a permanent decision.

Ideally, it would be nice to not have periods. Does anyone know if the implant stop them?

I'm not totally sure on the coil, as I've read quite a few stories on here about ladies falling pregnant with them in. Although I understand nothing but abstaining is 100%. Lol!

The implant is a bit of a gamble periods wise. I had a horribly long period to start with then nothing for 2.5 years and then they started again lightly before I had it removed to TTC. My usual cycle came back within 2-3 months. However, some people experience heavier periods on the implant and it's hard to know how your body will react beforehand.

I had a Jaydess coil and still got light “periods”, only ever needed a panty liner, no need for tampons or anything.

You might have to wait a while after birth, I asked for the coil after my baby was born and the GP said to wait 6 months, I know another Mum was told the same by a different GP (difference practice, different CCG).

www.nhs.uk/conditions/contraception/when-contraception-after-baby/ says if coil is not fitted within 48 hours of birth than you should wait 4 weeks

I was told I couldn’t have the coil fit for 12 weeks postpartum but perhaps that was because I had a c-section 🤷🏻‍♀️.

The implant was horrendous for me, it made me bleed from the moment in went in until the moment I cried and pleaded for the fucker removing.

The IUD/IUS actually have the highest rates of reliability and lowest failure for any type of contraception. You can get one put in from twelve weeks post birth. I just used condoms until then.

Mirena IUS doesn’t agree with everyone but it has been brilliant for me. I am on my third and only had them removed to conceive my DC. DC2 is 8mo and I had this one fitted at 4mo. It took a while for my periods to stop with the first one, and I continued to have spotting for some time. My periods have stopped more quickly with each subsequent one and as I had this one fitted before my periods returned after DC2 I haven’t had a period at all.

Fitted correctly they are as reliable as sterilisation with the obvious advantage that the effect is reversible.

Thank you ladies! The coil sounds ideal, but the amount of posts on here with ladies getting pregnant with it in concerns me.

I'll have to do some more research as I'm not sure what to do for the best.

Go by the official failure rates rather than by anecdotes on here. It’s 2 in 1000 for Mirena and 5 in 1000 for female sterilisation. Mirena is a much more popular option and along with other LARC is being promoted quite heavily by the NHS, whilst it can be quite difficult to get approval for sterilisation. A pregnancy due to sterilisation failure is very likely to be ectopic so those women won’t necessarily make it as far as the pregnancy boards.

In short, I think your perception is skewed by the demographic who use MN, who are much more likely to have an IUS than to have been sterilised. There are other risks to Mirena, of course. I hope you find a solution which works for you.

Yes you need to look at the failure rate data, and the data for 'typical use' where there is any element of user control.

www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/index.htm

The failure rate of IUDs and IUSs are both under 1%. Failure rate for typical use of the Pill is more like 7%. Failure rate of female sterilisation is actually relatively rather high, which is one reason why doctors are un-keen to do it.