The good news when it comes to family planning is that there are a number of different ways you can prevent an unplanned pregnancy. This also happens to be the bad news — the sheer number of choices can leave you confused as to which one will work best for your needs and goals.
To help you narrow down your options, Dr. Fernando Otero and the team here at Women’s Clinic of the Rio Grande Valley pulled together a few points to consider when considering contraception.
Naturally, the reason you’re looking at birth control is because pregnancy and family building is not right for you at this point in time. You’re still interested in a family down the road, but now’s not the time.
If temporary protection against pregnancy is your most important goal, you’ll want to consider efficacy ratings of your different birth control options.
Some examples include:
For a full list of efficacy ratings, check out this link.
Some of the efficacy ratings for birth control depend a good deal on how well you use the contraception. For example, oral contraceptives offer 93% efficacy ratings, but this number plummets quickly if you forget to take the pills on a daily basis.
Or, if you forget to put spermicide on your sponge or diaphragm, this can lower protection.
These are examples of birth control options that require a little effort on your part, whether it’s using them correctly or making sure they’re available when you need them. If you’re looking for hassle-free birth control, we suggest you consider:
Each of these offers protection, and they don’t require a great deal of effort on your part.
If you want to protect yourself against pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted diseases, there are only two ways to do this — condoms or abstinence.
Some women are more sensitive to hormone medications and prefer a birth control method that doesn’t rely on hormone regulation.
Some examples of those include:
You can also try fertility awareness, a technique in which you track your ovulation cycles to know when you’re most likely to get pregnant.
If you want a more permanent solution for birth control, we suggest tubal ligation, which blocks your fallopian tubes. Conversely, your male partner can take on the task and undergo a vasectomy.
If you still have more questions about which birth control is best for your lifestyle and your goals, we’re here to help. Simply contact one of our offices in McAllen or Edinburg, Texas, to schedule a consultation.
