by Mama Hippo
Prior to getting pregnant I had been a birth control pill user for many years. It worked great for me-- I never experienced any side effects, never had any pregnancy scares, never had any problems, really. Even once off it, it only took me 2 months to get pregnant, so it didn't even give me wacky cycles when I went off.
Now that I'm back to wanting to avoid pregnancy, I'm unsure of what birth control method to use. The pills I used before contained estrogen, which is not advisable to breastfeeding mothers as the estrogen can mess up your supply of breastmilk. There's the "mini-pill" which has only progesterone, but even then I can't remember to take a daily vitamin right now, I doubt I'd be able to remember to take a pill every day at the same time.
I've heard a lot about
Mirena, an IUD that many women seem to be raving about these days. It seems pretty cool-- easy, convenient, lasts for up to 5 years. It uses hormones, but it's very low dose of progesterone that's lower than the mini-pill and goes directly into the uterus rather than going through your bloodstream first like with other progesterone options. Sounds great, right?
Well, then I found
this. And
this. Now, I don't know much about this website or where the content comes from. It seems fairly credible, but also seems a bit alarmist without breaking down risks to actual numbers. One thing that caused me to pause was the mention of a study in Norway that followed breastfeeding mothers who used Norplant (which uses the same type of hormone as Mirena) and found that they had "higher incidence rates of respiratory infections, skin conditions and eye infections than the control group, and later were found to have a higher proportion of 'neurological conditions.'" Now, I don't know what the numbers are, or the statistical significance of them, and Mirena releases less hormones than Norplant and even fewer would enter the bloodstream and thus end up in breastmilk, I'm sure, but at the same time, in the absence of more research do I want to be feeding my newborn hormones that may have effects I'm unaware of?
And if that's the case, what options am I left with? I'm not terribly excited about any of the non-hormonal birth control options. And so I think I have more thinking and researching to do. Any suggestions?
Comments (20)
I talked to my dr. about Merina, and he said it was a great option if you weren't wanting to get pregnant for five years. He said its not like a reg. IUD where you actually conceive and the chem. make you miscarry He said it is just like the mini pill. but since it goes directly in your uterus that it is very effective. Which is great since I got preg. with my second on the reg. pill, my third on the mini pill (I was still nursing), and my fourth on the film. I need something that will work.
Well Condoms and spermacides are always out there,through it is NOT hormonal. There IS a hormonal ring that i've heard of...I don't know too much about it,a lady talking to my healthclass *from the local clinic* told us about it. I don't know about any side effects through. But then the most effective method is absitnence until your child is done breast feeding.
Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility could be an interesting read for you. But I don't recommend people plunging into fertility-awareness methods (Sympto-Thermal, Billings, Creighton) without having personal instruction from a trained instructor.
I was going to go with Mirena after I had Sean, 'cause I didn't want to have to deal with taking a pill everyday. I just started to think about having a little plastic piece in my uterus for five years, I didn't like that idea. I don't breastfeed, but I use OrthoTrycyclen Lo and my son is 18 months old and I am still not pregnant. I don't know if this was one of the pills that does estrogen or not.
I hope you find something 'cause I know just using condoms can get messy & it always ruined the mood for me sometimes, haha. Having to stop what we were doing and get him "prepared"... I was like, ughhh. Haha. <33
I was going to use Mirena, but my doctor encouraged me to get ParaGard (IUD) instead. It lasts for up to 10 years and does not have any hormones. Instead, it uses copper, which prevents sperm from fertilizing the egg and prevents implantation. So far so good (6 months).
I have been doing natural family planning (as explained in Taking Charge of Your Fertility mentioned above, TCOYF is a great book) for a long time. I did well but you have to really be strict with yourself when your near or at the fertile phase, which I wasn't and hence, this baby and my youngest daughter were conceived, lol. Now that we're about to have five kids, Dh has finally agreed to the V, and I'm glad the weight is off my shoulders for once!
FWIW, I know two local moms who got preg while on the Mirena recently, and that increases a m/c risk, not that I want to be gloom and doomy about it.
Well I personally dont want homones cause I tried BC and it ruined my cycle and made me all whacky...lol so I decided to try Paraguard after I have my son. Its just like Mirena only non-hormonal...duno if youve looked into it!
I looked into using Mirena as well. There were too many red flags for my comfort...and the thought of having to remember to take the mini pill, like you said...not happening. Since we're in the same boat, my husband and I opted to use condoms instead. So far we're going just fine with them. They really aren't as bad as I had remembered before, and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than going on something...especially if you end up forgetting.
I liked the NuvaRing, but again, it can't be used while breastfeeding...sad indeed...but definately an option for after...I would definately consider going back on it after I'm done pumping for my son...but that is only if we are in a position to be able to afford it again.
I was going to do the mirena until a friend had such a hard time with it. I have never been able to find a pill that works for me, the hormones make me nuts, problems with breakthrough bleeding, etc, also I naturally have very long cycles with fewer and easy periods and the pills always messed with that. My midwife prescribed a mini-pill but I never even took it. So we're back to the trusty withdraw method (haha) until Hubby's vas.
I actually haven't thought about it... We are currently 14wks pregnant and enjoying it very much. I was on Allese21 when I first started on BC then switched to Ortho Evra because I could never remember to take the pill everyday at the same time... but then after all the blood clot scares from the patch my doctor switched me to OrthoTricyclenLo... again I had trouble taking the pills everyday-- so my final destination was Nuvaring. I loved Nuvaring bc I never had to worry about it, except to put one in at the beginning of the month and then take it out 3 wks later... I was hoping to go back to it post baby but I guess if I plan to breast feed that would not be a good idea.
I have heard about Mirena but was a little weary of something that was going to be "implanted" for 5 years in me... then I was reading the "you and your family" magazine and saw an ad for Implanon, it is 99%effective for up to 3 yrs (instead of 5 w/ Mirena) and fertility is supposed to return on your next "cycle" after it is taken out. And the best part, maybe, is that it's estrogen free. It's implanted under the skin, in your arm and it's the size of a matchstick.
I think I may look into this for myself, so I can at least monitor the implant site... has anyone else heard of this?
I have had the Mirena IUD for 2 years now and cannot rave about it enough!! I nursed my baby for the whole first year it was in (she's my 5th baby. I wanted to be super sure this was it! and we wouldn't be getting pregnant by 'accident' again!). No side effects.... she's a perfect little dolly! =D I plan on keeping the Mirena IUD and maybe just having it replaced at the end of the five years. But I love that I can just have it taken out and get pregnant if I want to at any point. Don't think that will happen (lol!) but I like having my options open.
Good luck with your choice!
I'm going to be in the same boat after we have kids. I love the pill, that's always worked for me. But I don't want to take anything to hinder my breastfeeding options. I was actually considering Mirena, but I will do some more research, thanks for posting about this! I'm going to go read everyones' comments now...
@iwantmycheez@xanga - I have that one too, it's great isn't it!
I've been using the ParaGard for the last two and a half years, I have nothing but great things to say about it. There hasn't even been a hint of a scare. My cycle is totally normal and I didn't have to worry about hormones while breast feeding my youngest. He was an surprise baby while on the low dose pill. Good luck making your decision!
I am no longer breastfeeding, and while I was breastfeeding me and hubby weren't having it anyway, so I didn't worry to much about it. Now that's she's on formula and we're back to our old selves, I looked into all the birth controls. I have ALWAYS been horrible with the pill, since there's nothing "routine" about my life and taking a pill at the same time everyday will never work for me, I looked at other options. I, much like many of the other moms here, liked the ideal and having a birth control I can forget about and looked into IUD's and the Mirena, but I did not like the idea of "something sitting inside me" and after reading many reviews and the risks of it, I chose not to. I researched the Ring as well and came up with the same conclusion. As well as Implanton and every other contraceptive that stays "inside you" so what was left? The Patch. I don't know if it's healthy while breastfeeding, but it's a possibility after you're done. I can handle once a week on Sunday's (when im home from work all day) and it's visual, so I can literally see it and I'll remember that I have to change it every sunday. So that helps. Good luck finding something that works for you!
I know condoms can be a pain, but it's worked for us for 5 years with one child. We did it once without protection and got pregnant, so I know we're fertile otherwise. I can't have any hormonal BC due to close family history of stroke and heart issues. Some people just can't stand the barrier method, but it really is a good option for us. It doesn't kill the mood!
I have the ParaGuard (ie: non-hormonal, "copper-T") IUD because I don't want to get pregnant now, but when the time comes I don't think I'll want to wait (hormonal methods can stay in your system and affect your fertility for up to a year). I love it... now. But it was not an easy transition- those first few weeks meant a lot of cramps (my uterus trying to force out a newly introduced foreign object), and a lot of bleeding. By my 2nd cycle after the insertion, everything was normal... but it definitely took a serious committment on my part to wait that long!. The progesterin in the Mirena IUD make your periods lighter and eliminate a lot of the adjustment discomfort... just depends on what's important to you, I guess. Not taking a pill every day, or get a shot every 3 months, is great in my book... I won't go back unless I have to.
A diaphragm with a spermicide might work well if you don't want to break the mood since you put them in ahead of time and leave them at least 6 hours afterward. I like condoms. Easy, no hormones, no side effects.
There's always the option of a non-hormone IUD. For us the barrier and spermicide methods have been working well...plus I like that they're not messing with my hormones.
@mommy_2130 - SOME MD AREN'T PRESCRIBING ORTH EVRA NEMORE...I WAS ON ORTHO EVRA FOR 3 YEARS THEN I SWITCHED TO THE NUVA RING BC MY GYN DIDN'T WANT ME ON IT AND I LOVE IT...PLUS THE PATCH SLIPS OFF VERY EASY WHEN COMING OUT OF THE SHOWER AND WHEN U EXCERISE ITS A HASSLE AND WHEN YOU IN THE MOOD IN THE MOMENT...WIT THE NUVA RING U CAN TAKE IT OUT FOR UP TO 2 HOURS WHILE HAVING INTERCOURSE AND PUT IT BACK IN AFTER YOUR FINISHED...I LOVE IT HAVEN'T HAD NE PROBLEMS...