Tips for Choosing a Birth Control Method that Works with Your Lifestyle

The world of birth control is filled with options that suit every need and every lifestyle, which can make choosing the right one a little confusing.

Here at Gardena Women’s Center, under the guidance of Dr. Gwen Allen, our team partners with women in Gardena, California, to help them successfully navigate every stage of their lives. If your current stage precludes children, there are a number of ways you can prevent an unwanted pregnancy. In fact, there are so many that it can be hard to make a decision.

To help you narrow down the field, we’ve pulled together a few things to consider when choosing birth control so that you can make an informed decision.

Going for gold

Birth control is designed to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, so you want to choose a birth control method that best meets that criteria. There are many options that have an efficacy rating of 90% or more, including:

• Implants
• IUDs
• Injections
• Vaginal rings
• Patches
• Birth control pills
• Tubal ligation
• Abstinence

If preventing a pregnancy is your one and only concern, any of these methods will offer a considerable amount of protection. But there are other considerations that should be taken into account when choosing the right method for you, as outlined below.

Ease of use

Many of our patients don’t want the hassle of dealing with daily pills or on-the-spot protection, such as condoms or diaphragms. In addition to the hassle, any time there’s human involvement, the margin for error increases — such as skipped pills or broken condoms.

If you’d like a birth control option that you don’t have to think about, we recommend:

• IUDs
• Implants
• Injections
• Vaginal rings

Of all of these methods, the IUD requires the least amount of maintenance. We simply implant the device inside your uterus, and you’ll be protected from 3-12 years, depending upon the type of IUD you choose.

A question of hormones

Many of the most effective birth control options regulate your hormones, preventing ovulation. If you’d rather not interfere with your metabolic systems, we can help you find an alternative, such as a copper IUD, a diaphragm, or condoms. These options are what we call barrier methods, which prevent sperm from reaching and fertilizing your eggs.

Of course, abstinence and outercourse are also viable birth control methods that don’t affect your hormones. The withdrawal method or fertility planning can also help in preventing an unwanted pregnancy, but their protection is limited.

A permanent solution

If you’re done having children, or you don’t plan on having any in the first place, there is a more permanent method for preventing pregnancy — tubal ligation. By blocking your eggs from passing through your fallopian tubes, we can effectively prevent pregnancy. This option is permanent, so it’s a decision that should be considered carefully.

And this brings us to our last point. Choosing a birth control option is a very personal decision, and we can’t make it for you. What we can do is arm you with all of the information you need so that you can make the best choice for your goals and lifestyle.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. Or you can use the online scheduling tool on this website to set up a consultation.