Birth Control and Planning

Posted on September 17, 2007
Filed Under Pregnancy | Leave a Comment

If you use a barrier method of contraception, including the diaphragm, the male or female condom, the cervical cap, or contraceptive creams, foams, or film, you can safely become pregnant anytime you stop using it. This is true for an IUD as well.If you take oral contraceptives (“the pill”), many physicians and mid­wives recommend that you have one regular menstrual period before trying to become pregnant. Although the hormones in the pills do not accumulate in your body and there is no danger in becoming pregnant as soon as you stop taking the pills, dating your pregnancy is harder if you haven’t had at least one period. You or your partner can use a barrier method until you have a period and then start trying. Plan, then, to stop the pill at least a month before you wish to become pregnant.

Birth Control and PlanningIf you use Depo-Provera (“the shot”), it may take a while for the hormone to clear your system. There is no danger in getting pregnant right away, but only about half of women who stop using Depo- Provera become pregnant within 10 months of the last injection. Be patient. About 93 percent of women using Depo-Provera become pregnant within 18 months after the last injection. This doesn’t mean the shot causes infertility-the percentage is no lower than the percentage of the general population who try to get pregnant and succeed within this time period. The rate of pregnancy at 18 months after the last shot is the same as the pregnancy rate following use of all reversible methods of birth control, but women should expect a longer delay in getting pregnant after discontinuing Depo-Provera than after discontinuing other methods.

Couples who rely on natural family planning methods have an advantage in becoming pregnant. You can continue using them, not to see when you are infertile, but to see when you’re most fertile


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