Family Planning

Family planning is a vital concern in women’s health care. If you are not ready to start or add to your family, several birth control methods are available to help prevent pregnancy. Hormone-related treatments, such as various types of birth control pills, patches, injections and intra-uterine devices, can be used to prevent ovulation (release of a mature egg from the ovaries) and thus prevent pregnancy. Mechanical devices, such as IUDs and a diaphragm or cervical cap, are other options.

Once you have decided that your family is complete, you may want to consider permanent birth control. Traditionally, this was achieved by a surgical procedure to “tie the tubes” – preventing sperm from passing through the Fallopian tubes to fertilize an egg. New procedures, such as Essure®, available in-office at Women’s Health Care, are much less invasive and achieve permanent birth control. The Essure procedure requires no general anesthesia, no cutting, no long recovery period, and only about an hour’s time to administer. Since it’s an in-office procedure, it may be covered by your copayment in most medical insurance plans.