You're in Control of Family Planning: 4 Approaches to Birth Control

You have a set idea about family planning, and you want to make sure you have the right tools for your goals. The world of birth control can be confusing, so we break it down into categories here.

Contraception has been called one of the biggest public health achievements of the 20th century, allowing people to have better control over family planning. As a result, mortality rates have been greatly reduced, and people are better able to control their lives.

Here in the United States, just shy of 65% of women of reproductive age (between the ages of 15 and 49) use contraception.

If you want to use contraception but you’re confused by the sheer number of choices in birth control, our team of healthcare providers here at LaSante Health Center, which includes gynecology experts, breaks it down here.

Creating a barrier

One of the ways you can prevent an unplanned pregnancy is by stopping sperm from reaching and fertilizing your egg.

Called a barrier method, there are several birth control options that check this box, including:

Condoms, both male and female
Diaphragms
Cervical caps
Intrauterine devices (IUDs)
Sponges
Spermicides

Most of these options are what we refer to as on-the-spot methods — you use them right before intercourse — and the only long-acting birth control barrier is the IUD. With the IUD, we insert the device, then it offers you up to 12 years of protection.

Only condoms do double duty and prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Hormonal methods

A popular approach to birth control are hormonal methods that target ovulation — no egg, no pregnancy.

The way the hormones are delivered is what creates the variety in this category, which includes:

Birth control pills
Vaginal rings
Injections
Patches
Implants
IUDs

In the hormone category, your choice often comes down to ease of use. With oral contraceptives, you have to remember to take a daily pill, while a hormonal IUD can offer several years of protection against pregnancy.

Patches, rings, injections, and implants are generally measured in months.

Natural methods

If you want a natural approach to birth control, you have options here, too, including:

Abstinence
Withdrawal method
Outercourse
Fertility Awareness
Breastfeeding

With many of these methods, education is important, and we’re happy to sit down with you to explain how each works.

Sterilization methods

If you’re sure you don’t want children, sterilization is an option. For women, this means tubal ligation and for men, a vasectomy.

With a tubal ligation, we clip your fallopian tubes to close down the connection between your ovaries and your uterus, so this method requires surgery.

A more minimally invasive option is a vasectomy, a procedure in which the tiny tubes that deliver sperm on the male side of the equation are blocked. Each year in the US, about half a million men undergo a vasectomy.

There are other ways to categorize birth control options, but this is a good place to start. For a more detailed look at your choices and for help figuring out which option is best for your specific circumstances, book an appointment online or call us at our Brooklyn, New York, office at 718-246-5700.

Our multi-specialty clinic serves the Flatbush and East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Park Slope, Little Haiti, Little Caribbean, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens communities.