Contraceptives

Are you ready to stop taking your contraceptive pill and become pregnant?
Some of the questions that are frequently asked about fertility after taking oral contraceptives include:

* How long will it take my cycle to regulate after discontinuing the pill?
* Will previous pill use impact my future fertility?
* How long will it take me to get pregnant after discontinuing the pill?
* Can I start charting right after discontinuing the pill?
The latest study, done at Dusseldorf University is a few years old but the findings are worth reviewing. In short, you can be reassured that even if it takes you a couple of cycles to get back to ‘normal’ menstruation, your fertility should not be affected.

The study was done with two groups of women. One that had recently stopped taking an oral contraceptive and one that had never taken an oral contraceptive. Measurements were taken using basal body temperature charts over a period of time.

I found this information at www.FertilityFriend.com - it’s a great site if you are planning a pregnancy- and thought that the content would be helpful to a number of visitors to this site who are either thinking of beginning a course of hormonal contraceptives or who wish to stop taking an oral contraceptive in order to conceive.

Below is a simplified ‘overview’ of the findings but the full report can be found here.

After discontinuing oral contraceptives:

• 57.9% of women ovulated in their first menstrual cycle

• cycles were longer, sometimes up to the 12th cycle

• cycle ‘disturbances’ ( a cycle lasting longer than 35 days- not bleeding time , just the time lag between periods starting) were more frequent in the post pill taking group than the non pill taking group and it could be up to 7 cycles before ‘normality’ was established

• cycle disturbances were reversible but can take longer to regulate (9 months or more)

Age and Previous Births are other factors that may also affect the time it takes to become fertile after taking oral contraceptives:

Women 25-29 were compared with women aged 30-35 in two groups- those who had previously given birth and those who had never given birth.

The study found that those women who had previously given birth (regardless of age) had only a slight impairment of fertility which did not last long.

Women 25-29 who had never given birth had some impairment of fertility bit this did not last long either.

Women aged 30-35 who had never had children and had been on oral contraceptives, took the longest time to conceive but there was no evidence that the ‘pill’ caused permanent sterility.

If you ARE wishing to conceive, talk to your own doctor and also chart your own monthly cycles (take and record a graph of your daily temperature) as soon as you stop taking the ‘pill’. This will help you to become familiar with your ‘fertility’ progress and alert you to any other possible causes for concern if it’s taking longer than you expect for you to conceive.

If you are following the latest updates on which American school clinics are going to make contraceptives available to Middle and High school students, here is an interesting article from the Los Angeles Times.

6 Denver High Schools may offer Birth Control

“DENVER — At least once a day, a teenage girl walks into North High School’s health clinic, wanting to find out whether she’s pregnant. Frequently, it turns out she is.

The city’s teen birth rate is more than double the statewide rate of 24.3 births per 1,000 girls age 15 to 17, and Denver school officials are considering a proposal to dispense contraceptives in its six high-school-based health clinics, which serve the district’s most impoverished students.

The recommendation by a task force studying the future of the clinics comes shortly after a highly publicized case in Portland, Maine, where a local school board allowed a clinic to dispense birth control to middle-school students.

The Denver proposal would affect only high school students, but it has raised similar concerns: Opponents say the easy availability would encourage youngsters to have sex….read more

I thought the following couple of articles may be interesting for you, especially if you have just had a baby and are wondering how to manage your birth control from now on. As Lilith states, it’s wonderful to have a baby but oh boy, can it be tiring. With all the adjustments, emotions at play, lack of sleep and extra ‘housekeeping’ to manage a little ‘family planning’ may be just what you, dad and the wee one need. At least stock up on some sexy condoms and give your hormones a rest.

Birth Control While Breastfeeding

Lilith Mill

Can a woman get pregnant when she’s nursing? How can you prevent pregnancy and not harm the baby? Here are the facts that nursing and expecting mothers need to know.

A woman can get pregnant when she is nursing. If you want to prevent pregnancy while nursing, you have a few options for birth control.

Sex After Childbirth

It used to be that women were advised to not have sex until six weeks after they gave birth, at their six week check-up. If you feel comfortable with this, then you can wait. However, the vagina typically heals after two weeks or so, and the cervix will also be closed after two weeks. If you haven’t had any complications, you can have sex as early as two weeks after you give birth. Ask your doctor if there are any reasons you shouldn’t. You might not want to have sex after you give birth: a woman’s hormones change dramatically after being pregnant, and sometimes they are not as sexually charged. If you are interested in sex, know that you could be fertile again as soon as two weeks after you have your baby. Be aware of this and choose your contraception wisely.

Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM)

This is sometimes also called the breastfeeding method. This is the method that has some people confused as to whether or not you can get pregnant while you are nursing. If you choose to nurse your baby and to not give your baby other milk, you can postpone your fertility.

This means you feed your baby every four hours (from both breasts). In the night, you have to feed your baby at least every six hours.

You can only use this method if you are nursing and if you haven’t had a period since your baby was born. This method only works for six months after the baby is born, and then you have to use another method.

Barrier Methods

Barrier methods of birth control won’t harm your nursing infant. These include condoms, female condoms, sponges, and prescription barrier based methods. With many prescription barrier methods, you have to wait until six to eight weeks after delivery: these include diaphragms, cervical caps, and shields.

If you are using a barrier based method with a spermicide, be sure that your vagina has healed thoroughly before using spermicide and having sex.

Hormonal Methods

You cannot take a combination hormone treatment (one that has estrogen, or ethinyl estradiol, in it) if you are nursing. This means that you cannot take combination pills, you can’t wear the Patch, and you can’t use a Vaginal Ring. The estrogen will be found in your breast milk and affect your baby, and will also affect your milk supply.

You can, however, use progestin-only methods of birth control. This includes progestin-only pills, which are sometimes called mini-pills, Depo-Provera, and Mirena, a hormonal IUD (intrauterine device). Many doctors claim that progestins are too large to pass into breastmilk and will not affect your baby.

Other doctors, however, are wary about using progestin-only birth control. Dr. Cindy McClain Pearman, a family practice physician from Knoxville, Tennessee, claims that “Mini-pills and Depo are not supposed to affect [milk] supply, but I have seen it happen often, especially with the mini-pill.”

If you feel uncertain about using hormonal birth control methods, you can always choose another form of birth control, be it abstinence, a barrier method, or a fertility awareness method.

IUDs: IntraUterine Devices

You can use a copper IUD while you are nursing; it will not affect your breastmilk. An IUD is a device that is inserted by your doctor. It means that you won’t be able to conceive until you have it removed by a professional. Often, women who have just given birth report easier IUD insertions.

Fertility Awareness Methods

You can choose to track your fertility after your baby is born. This cannot happen until you have your first period. To learn about tracking your fertility, you will need to speak to an expert: ask your doctor, or local clinic, or women’s group. You will have to abstain from sex on your unsafe days, or plan to use a back-up method.

Having just had a baby can be a magical (but tiring) experience. Family planning can benefit you, your partner, and your baby. Choose the option that seems right for you.

For more information on all of the above methods of birth control, visit www.theguideto-birthcontrol.com/index.php

Many women who have just delivered a baby want to use methods to make sure that they do not conceive again until they are ready. While not all women choose to breast feed, many women do choose breast feeding and wonder about how birth control use while breast feeding will affect their baby. Before you start taking birth control while you are breast feeding your new baby, it is important that you consider your options and the positive and negative aspects of each option before you make your final decision. There are three basic methods of birth control that are available to you, including hormonal birth control, non-hormonal birth control, and the Lactational Amenorrhea Method of birth control.

Hormonal Birth Control
The first type of birth control method you may be considering is hormonal birth control. There are both progestin birth control contraceptives and combination contraceptives that consist of both progestin and estrogen. While some believe that hormonal birth control use while breast feeding can cause problems for the baby, there are no actual studies that prove this; however, this type of birth control should be used with caution. Before you decide on hormonal birth control, be sure to weigh all of your options carefully to make sure this is what you really want and need. If you decide on taking progestin contraceptives, it is suggested that you wait for about three weeks after you deliver to start taking these pills. If you decide on taking estrogen contraceptives, you should probably wait at least six weeks after having your baby to start taking this kind of contraceptive. It is important to note that while progestin can actually increase your amount of breast milk, estrogen can decrease the amount of milk you produce, which may cause problems in the future.

Non-Hormonal Birth Control
Another type of birth control that many women consider after they have their baby is non-hormonal birth control. This is viewed as one of the best types birth control to use since there are no negative effects caused to the baby from birth control use while breast feeding with any of the non-hormonal methods that are available. Some types of non-hormonal types of birth control include diaphragms, spermicide, condoms, vaginal sponges, and a cervical cap. For women who choose to use a diaphragm, they need to make sure that they are fitted for a new one after having a baby. Most of the time there are changes to the cervix after childbirth and failing to be refitted may result in the failure of the diaphragm.

Lactational Amenorrhea Method of Birth Control
One method of birth control that many women are unfamiliar with is the Lactational Amenorrhea Method of birth control. Using this type of birth control while breast feeding is very natural; however, it is important that you understand how it works in order for it to be effective for you.

This type of birth control is specifically for women who:

have yet to get their period,

• who are providing more than 90% of the nutrition for their child
• plan to nurse their baby for more than six months
• and breast feed an average of every four hours. Breast feeding this much can actually provide women with natural contraception and can last up to six months.

It is very important that women are meeting all of the criteria for this method, though, or it may not be effective for them.
As a nursing mother, you need to be informed about the various types of birth control available and how it can affect you and your baby while breast feeding. Once you have the facts, you can decide which method will work best for you. Birth control use while breast feeding is possible and it can be very safe if you choose the best methods for you and your child.

By: Mishaun Taylor

Article Directory: www.articledashboard.com

People often confuse Emergency Contraception with Plan B. Plan B is a dedicated emergency contraception product – however, higher doses of oral contraceptives also act as emergency contraceptives. Pharmacies may not carry Plan B, but most carry oral contraceptives and may provide them as emergency contraceptives. In the unlikely situation that you may not be able to get to a pharmacy or your doctor for the ‘morning after pill’ within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, here is a list of emergency doses for a popular number of oral contraceptive pills available on line through this website.

The Food and Drug Administration has declared the following brands of oral contraceptives to be safe and effective for emergency contraception:

Ovral (1 dose is 2 white pills)

Alesse (1 dose is 5 pink pills)

Levlen or Nordette (1 dose is 2 light-orange pills)

Lo/Ovral (1 dose is 4 white pills)

Tri-Levlen or Triphasil (1 dose is 4 yellow pills)

Check with your doctor at once if you need emergency contraception and you are breastfeeding- even though there are no actual studies to prove that hormonal contraceptives damage a baby, please be cautious with ALL medications you take. Whatever you swallow is absorbed by your body and eventually passes through your milk and reaches your baby- do you really want your baby to have to cope with huge doses of hormones, alcohol or drugs? Your baby has no ’say’ in the matter so even though you find yourself stressed in this emergency situation please do not panic if you have to include bottle feeds for a while.

Your doctor will reassure you as to what to do next with your birth control regime and your baby will not die of malnourishment.
Precautions to take with the ‘morning after pill’

Just to be sure, it is wise to use an additional method of contraception to prevent pregnancy such as a condom and/or spermicide, especially when your period starts again. Some women find that when they take Plan B (emergency contraceptive) they get their period earlier or later than usual- this means that you are not quite certain when, during that particular cycle, you are at risk of getting pregnant! For the morning after pill to be effective it contains higher doses of hormones than the regular contraceptive pill and may cause noticeable side effects so it should NOT be used routinely.

Do not rely on breastfeeding for emergency contraception unless you fully understand all the criteria required (see separate article on breastfeeding and contraceptives)

Depending on how frequently and for how long you breastfeed a baby determines when your periods return and assume their ‘normal’ cycle. Your hormones swing around all over the place when you have a baby (”don’t I know it!” I hear you say?) so if you wish to continue with birth control after giving birth, take these precautions:

If your breast fed baby is now 6 months old, if you have recently reduced the number of feeds or the length of time you breastfeed your baby or have just introduced some bottle feeds, please take extra caution by using another, non hormonal type of contraceptive.

For further information watch this short video.

If you have multiple sexual partners don’t let them give you the gift of syphilis for Christmas! Unless you are absolutely certain of your partner’s medical history in this area , you should always insist on the use of condoms, even though an oral contraceptive or other method of birth control may be used as well.

A condom is the safest way of protecting yourself against sexually transmitted diseases so….. watch the little ‘cucumber’ video below( especially if sex is relatively new to you)

“Oh, Come on!” ” I can hear you say but please indulge me, better safe than sorry and it will give you a giggle (AND ease my conscience that I have left no rubber ‘unrolled’ in simplifying the useful information I promised to deliver on this site).

By the way, if you had any ‘accidents’ or unfortunate experiences with condoms that could serve as a warning to others, please feel free to leave a comment- but keep it ‘clean’. I think the best and most reliable (pardon the pun) site for buying condoms and other ‘goodies’ on line is this one.

Teenage sex is always a hot topic and more so now with the decision to dispense contraceptives to middle school students in the USA. If you are a teenager you may not feel comfortable talking to your parents about how you feel about sex. (At least, girls, carry a packet of condoms in your purse) If you are a parent you may wish to broach the subject but may not know how to go about it. Take heart, there’s a few modern books I found on Amazon that will come to the rescue- or at least ‘break the ice’ and provide accurate information that will do the job with or without the ‘awkward moments’.

With Christmas coming up, perhaps you could start with a gaily wrapped stocking filler?

The ones listed below are voted favourites with teenagers and parents alike. All the books cost less than $20 and I recommend that you browse through all the reviews first because you’ll probably want to buy more than just one. By the way, I’ve added a ‘rogue’ one at the bottom just in case!

Happy reading, happy chatting and happy adolescence!

The Teenage Body Book

The Underground Guide to Teenage Sexuality, 2nd Edition

Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask): The Secrets to Surviving Your Child’s Sexual Development from Birth to the Teens

S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get You Through High School and College

Ten Talks Parents Must Have with Their Children About Sex and Character

Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk about Sexuality

Young, Poor, and Pregnant: The Psychology of Teenage Motherhood

By now most of you will have seen or heard several news items covering the decision by an American Middle School to dispense contraceptives to 11 year olds.

67% of U.S parents agree (AP poll) that contraceptives should be provided (most prefer with parental consent) since they reduce teenage pregnancies but surely the issue is MUCH bigger than this folks?

You may be uncomfortable reading this, since it’s really a ‘call to action’ but SO much more work still needs to be done to prevent teenage pregnancies (et al) other than dispensing contraceptives in our schools.

Hopefully, being asked for an opinion on this matter has got us all taking a good hard look at how well our sex education curriculums are performing. Our children, even in Primary School, need to be carefully and adequately educated, both in and out of school, in sexual health (emphasis on health). Children are like little sponges, especially when it comes to matters of sex; they soak up a wealth of material about sex, from advertising material to hanging out with friends. As parents, relatives, friends and teachers, we have a duty of care to make sure that whatever myths, lies or truths are ‘wowed’, laughed at or feared, they can be talked about with someone who can put the record straight, so that our young people reach adolescence well equipped to face the hormonal storm.

Do you really think that an 11yr. old is ready to deal with sex at all, let alone get pregnant?

Sex education is a topic that should encompass all possible aspects and repercussions when the youngest ‘child’ in our society has sex.

If you have a child, I urge you to talk about this ’sex thing’ issue as soon as you feel the time is right - which will depend on how well you have built that personal ‘bond’ between you both - a tough job but one that will shape the way that your child moves through life, especially when it comes to coping with adolescence and sex. If we love our kids, we owe it to them to equip them with sufficient information to make the right choices, at the right time, when we are not there! Call it a street survival kit if you like but please don’t just make this important responsibility solely that of the school.

We cannot bury our heads in the sand and hope this will go away- it is probable that as you read this, there is another teenager dying a thousand deaths as she discovers she is pregnant and literally feeling sick at the thought of telling her parents(or worse, planning how to conceal it) There is another young woman stepping over the threshold of a clinic, scared out of her wits after deciding to have an abortion because there is no way in hell she can raise a child right now.

At the same time, Bush has decided to increase funding for ‘abstinence’ programmes which could just work IF he also hops onto a star and waves his magic wand to grant a few wishes:

• a wish that spending heaps of cash on telling teenagers NOT TO HAVE SEX will actually work (but if the programme is a good one………..!!!!!!!)
• a wish that teenagers don’t even think of having sex till at least 17 years of age
• a wish that teenagers would heed the law that states it is an offence to have sex with a minor
• a wish that teenagers would NOT heed the law of Nature when hormones compel them to be sexually explorative
• a wish that STD’s died out with the plague
• a wish that our obedient son or daughter would not dream of having ‘under age’ sex because it’s a sin
• a wish that ‘accidental’ pregnancies do not lead to more children in foster homes
• a wish that ‘abortions’ never have to be performed

I am not diminishing the size of the task that faces us all. Regardless of age, or where you are in the world, when a young person becomes sexually active (mentally and physically), that person should be able to draw upon a set of ‘coping’ tools which were freely supplied and fully explained during the ‘apprenticeship’ years by their ‘guardians’ or elders.

Some tools will include information about human biology, reproduction and contraceptives and their uses. Other tools will help them to handle the ‘head stuff’ as well as the physical stuff, which by it’s very nature, brings with it the emotional stuff (more so for girls than boys?)

THIS is where governments need to spend more cash- generously supplying and honing these tools to build a generation of knowledgeable and confidant young people so WHEN they decide they are ready for sex, we can be assured that they will make the choice that is right for them, protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies, STD’s, abortions AND develop into responsible family planners and future parents themselves.

However, to make a difference NOW, we don’t need lots of cash to talk to our children- so take a deep breath and if you’ve not done so before, take ‘baby’ steps- start with topics that are not too confronting while you build up to the ‘hot stuff’ - talking about what happens when you give yourself to a boy you believe you are ‘in love with’ or how to plan the ‘first time’ with your girlfriend so she knows you are being responsible. You’ll be glad you did when you’re waiting for them to come in from that first date!

If research funds hold out and we can hold our breath for another 4 or 5 years, two types of oral contraceptive pill for men and a sperm blocker may be coming our way. In America, approximately one third of the responsibility for contraception is taken by men using condoms or having vasectomies. For this figure to grow, other non-permanent methods of acceptable and safe birth control for use by males will have to be developed.

We have been told for years now that a male contraceptive will be on the market ’soon’. When one finally DOES appear on the market, there could be mixed reactions from women, not least issues of trust and maybe handing back the ‘power of control’ over when to conceive. You will still need a good supply of anti STD devices though so stock up here at a reliable site- they have other ‘goodies’ too.
Will women rely solely on her male partner to take responsibility for birth control (as HE will not be the one physically going through an unplanned pregnancy) or will she take extra precautions ‘just in case’?

“Some men are quite desperate for better control over their fertility,” said Kirsten Thompson, director of the International Male Contraception Coalition. “They’re looking for something they can really count on.” So are we gentlemen!

Two conferences on the “Future of Male Contraception” have been held so far in Seattle (sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization and others) and a number of possibilities for new male contraceptive options look like being viable, including, wait for it guys, a device for blocking sperm that is inserted into the vas deferens (is that a cringe I feel?).

The vas deferens is the ’sperm tube’ that is cut in a vasectomy (my ex had this done and if one sits on an ice bag immediately after the op it keeps the bruising down and recovery is quite quick)

The sperm blocker device currently being developed, is comprised of a set of removable plugs that have so far been tested on 90 men. The results of the plug insertion trial show “substantial equivalence to traditional vasectomy methods”. However, more research is now required to find out if normal fertility returns after the devices have been removed.

Could this be the makings of a new catchphrase ladies? “Show me your scars honey!”

The Oral Contraceptive Pill for women uses synthetic female hormones- a ‘testosterone-like’ pill for men that uses a drug called “selective androgen receptor modulator,” or SARM is presently being tested on humans for treating osteoporosis and muscle wasting, this drug, when taken orally, has also been found to reduce sperm count in rabbits.

A team @ Pittsburgh University has found that a non- hormonal compound known as CDB-4022 stops monkey sperm from swimming to their destination and importantly, within 16 weeks of stopping treatment, normal fertility returned. The chief factor of safety in the administration of this drug still needs to be tested though.

A new survey by the International Male Contraception Coalition found 61 percent of men would pick a non-hormonal drug over other contraceptive choices. I wonder if they asked these men if they were comfortable with us women taking a hormonal contraceptive pill?

If the latest studies are to be believed, more men are becoming interested in taking more responsibility for birth control. While it is doubtful that we shall reach a point where ALL men see that this responsibility should be shared equally with women, surely it is healthy and mature to keep abreast of the latest developments so that we are all in a better position (no pun intended) to discuss the type of contraceptive ‘arrangement’ that is win/win for both partners and successful family planning for the future?

Adjudin and the ‘dry orgasm’ pill for men (no ejaculate produced) may eventually be developed with very minor side effects.

To see the reactions of 10 men when asked about taking a male contraceptive pill watch this 2 min. video

If the video does not appear in 10 seconds CLICK HERE

You may think you know all there is to know about preventing pregnancy with the contraceptive practises you are currently following but just to be sure you DO- carry out a serious, yet light hearted check by watching this clever little animated video (if the video does not appear in 10 seconds