Women across America are turning to permanent birth control as a way to prevent unplanned pregnancies. This highly effective method may be right for you if you’re sure you don’t want children or if you’ve already raised your family and know you don’t want any more kids. The team of board-certified OB/GYN physicians at Abortion Care provides permanent birth control to our patients in the Somerset, New Jersey, area. Learn more about it and decide if it’s the right option for you.
What is permanent birth control?
Permanent birth control for women is also called sterilization. The procedure is called tubal ligation — a surgical procedure during which your fallopian tubes are tied off under anesthesia. This procedure prevents eggs from traveling down the fallopian tubes and stops the sperm from reaching the egg.
The benefits of tubal ligation include:
- It’s permanent
- Low failure rate
- No hormonal side effects, like with the birth control pill or IUD
- You still get your period and enter menopause naturally
This permanent birth control can only be reversed surgically in rare cases; there are no guarantees you’d get pregnant.
Essure®
There’s a nonsurgical method of permanent birth control called Essure, made by Bayer, but the company stopped selling it in December 2018. Health care providers are allowed to use it until December 2019, so you may still hear about it. With this method, inserts are placed in your fallopian tubes and scar tissue forms around them over about three months. After that, your fallopian tubes are permanently blocked. You should use another method of birth control until then to prevent pregnancy.
How effective is permanent birth control?
Permanent birth control is very effective. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, out of 100 women, less than one could get pregnant. These rates are better than any other method of birth control, including the pill and intrauterine devices (IUDs).
Considerations
Before choosing to undergo a tubal ligation, you should be sure you don’t want to have children, or that you’re done having children. This is a significant life decision, so take the time to think about it.
Also, a tubal ligation doesn’t protect you from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). So you should still use a condom for protection.
If you’d like to learn more about permanent birth control in central New Jersey, make an appointment with one of our experienced OB/GYNs at Abortion Care today. Call us at 732-408-6182.
