Family Planning
Family planning is a way of taking control of your fertility and choosing when you want to start a family, rather than leaving letting nature take its course. The highly qualified team at West Kendall OBGYN, serving the Kendall and West Kendall areas of Miami, and Doral, FL, can help you choose the right method of birth control and safeguard your health and well-being at every stage of your reproductive life. Call West Kendall OBGYN today to schedule your family planning appointment, or use the online booking tool.
Family Planning Q&A
What is Family Planning?
Family planning allows you to have an active sex life while reducing the risk of becoming pregnant. No temporary birth control method is 100% effective, but when used properly, modern contraceptives can be 95 to 99% effective in preventing unwanted pregnancy.
At West Kendall OBGYN, the expert team provides help and advice when selecting the method of birth control that’s right for you, and ensures your ongoing health.
What Do I Need to Consider When Thinking About Family Planning?
When you’re ready to have sex but not ready to start a family, you need to choose a method of birth control, but with so many options available, it can be a challenge to decide how to manage your family planning needs.
Your provider at West Kendall OBGYN can help you go through the options available and look at the pros and cons of each one, with particular reference to your medical history and lifestyle requirements. You and your provider can look at considerations such as:
How easy each method of birth control is to use
What side effects you might experience
How effective each method is
The costs involved
Whether there’s any effect on menstruation
How easily reversible each method is if you decide to try for a baby
Would you be protected against STDs (sexually transmitted diseases)
Each method of birth control has its advantages and disadvantages, and by looking at which factors are most relevant to your situation, you can optimize the effectiveness of the method you select.
What Types of Birth Control are Available?
Birth control methods fall into two main categories: Those that rely on disrupting the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone to prevent fertilization, and those that create a physical barrier that prevents sperm from reaching the egg.
Hormonal birth control choices include:
Combined contraceptive pill (estrogen and progestin)
Mini pill (progestin only)
Medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) injection
Hormonal skin patches
Vaginal ring
Progestin implant
Hormonal IUD (intrauterine device)
As an alternative to the hormonal IUD, a long-lasting IUD that uses copper rather than hormones is also available.
Barrier methods of birth control include:
Male condoms
Female condoms
Diaphragms
Cervical caps
These work even better when used with a spermicide that destroys any stray sperm. It’s worth bearing in mind that condoms are the only method of birth control that effectively cut your risk of infection with an STD, so if you’re not in a monogamous relationship, you might want to use hormonal birth control and condoms together.
If you’re sure you don’t wish to have any more children, then sterilization offers a permanent solution. The team at West Kendall OBGYN offers Essure® hysteroscopic sterilization, a surgery-free permanent birth control procedure.
Having a child when you’re ready is one of the most wonderful and rewarding experiences it’s possible to have, but unwanted pregnancy can bring financial hardship, health problems, and emotional distress that can be hard to deal with. Take control of planning your family by calling West Kendall OBGYN today, or book an appointment online.