Do You Have to Have a Baby to Get Your Tubes Tied?
What Y'all Demand to Know Before Getting Your Tubes Tied
Tubal ligation, or getting your tubes tied, is an effective permanent form of birth control. But it's not the but pick out there. Here's everything parents should know, including how the procedure works, what it costs, and side effects.
When it comes to birth control, we're fortunate to have more than options for preventing pregnancy than we e'er have earlier. But for women seeking permanent, well-nigh foolproof contraception, sterilization is the but pick. Whether you call it tubal ligation or "getting your tubes tied," it's a fairly simple process—and significantly more common than its male sterilization counterpart, vasectomies. (We'll go into that more later.)
Credit: Illustration by Caitlin-Marie Miner Ong
Doctors like Diana Sunday, M.D., an OB-GYN at MedStar Montgomery Medical Centre in Columbia, Maryland, typically view tubal ligation equally a safety and effective form of permanent birth control. "Less than 1 percentage of women get pregnant following tubal ligation—about one in 200 women," says Dr. Sunday. The odds don't go much better than that.
Merely across its effectiveness for preventing pregnancy, in that location's lots to consider when it comes to getting your tubes tied, from side effects to cost. Hither'south everything yous need to know.
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How Tubal Ligation Surgery Works
And so exactly which tubes are getting tied in this procedure—and how practise they tie them? We're talking about your fallopian tubes, which connect the ovaries to the uterus. Cut off that important passageway makes it extremely unlikely that pregnancy will occur. "This prevents her egg from traveling exterior the ovaries into the fallopian tubes and blocks sperm from traveling upwards the fallopian tubes to the egg," says Dr. Sunday.
- With a minilaparotomy, a procedure that's oft used postpartum, a modest incision in made in the abdomen to access the fallopian tubes. Then either a small department of each tube is removed, or both tubes are removed completely. Clips may likewise be used to close off the tubes.
- With a laparoscopy, a laparoscope is inserted into an incision in or nearly the belly button, and the tubes are closed off internally.
While information technology has permanent effects, tubal ligation is mostly viewed as a quick, small surgical procedure. "It typically tin can exist performed at the time of a patient's C-section, sometimes after a vaginal delivery," says Dr. Sunday. "If a adult female isn't pregnant, information technology can be done laparoscopically via one to three small incisions."
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Tubal Ligation Side Furnishings
The side effects of getting your tubes tied are typically balmy, and recovery time tends to exist short—though that does depend on your full general health, lifestyle, and the blazon of procedure y'all've undergone. Common side effects include feeling tired, silly, nauseous, and cramping for a short time following the tubes tied surgery.
And there is 1 positive, longer term side effect of the tubes tied procedure to consider: Prove has shown that tubal ligation may too greatly decrease the risk of ovarian cancer. "This is when the entire fallopian tube is removed, rather than just removing a modest portion or placing a clip in the centre of the fallopian tube," says Dr. Sunday. "Women who have undergone a bilateral tubal ligation and especially with removal of the unabridged fallopian tube take been shown to have a lower risk for ovarian cancer."
Something the surgery won't change? Your menstrual cycle. "Because tubal ligation doesn't apply hormones to forestall pregnancy, it doesn't change your natural hormones or change a adult female's menstruation or cause menopause," says Dr. Sunday. "Unlike hormonal birth control, like birth command pills or IUDs, it does not have the same side effects like headaches, weight gain, cramps, or mood swings."
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The Cost of Tubal Ligation
How much does information technology price to go your tubes tied? Co-ordinate to Planned Parenthood, the process may cost anywhere from $0 to $6000. If you lot have health insurance or Medicaid, it may not cost yous a penny to go your tubes tied. Price may also vary based on the blazon of procedure you choose and where you go the procedure done. Out of pocket, tubal ligation usually costs much more than vasectomies.
Tubal Ligation vs. Vasectomies
Of form, female sterilization isn't the only permanent option — though it is past far the almost popular. For men, vasectomies are quicker, less expensive, and generally considered lower risk than tubal ligation. Ngozi Wexler, M.D., an OB-GYN at Medstar Montgomery Medical Center, confirms that women beyond the country get sterilized at college rates. "Women notoriously are often the commuter of their own, their family, and their partner's medical care," she explains.
Many times vasectomies can exist performed in a doctor'south office with a local anesthetic in less than 30 minutes, while tubal ligation is more invasive and ofttimes conducted under full general anesthesia, Dr. Wexler explains. "Vasectomies can exist an effective procedure that can also be reversed, while tubal ligation largely cannot be reversed."
When deciding between tubal ligation and vasectomy, you and your partner should both speak with your doctors to empathise the recovery time, toll, and risks associated with each option. "If a woman or her partner are not absolutely certain they no longer want to conceive a child, I advise them to explore alternative birth control options," Dr. Sunday adds. "Women have a lot of choices, and should exist empowered to make the one that is all-time for her health and her wishes around pregnancy."
- RELATED: What Dads (and Moms!) Demand to Know Near Vasectomies
The Bottom Line
Before committing to a tubal ligation, consider all of your nativity control options to make an informed determination about what's right for you. Your physician can help yous understand all of your options, what the risks are, and how they will affect you. "This is a very personal decision for a woman, and one no one should make for her," says Dr. Sun.
Do You Have to Have a Baby to Get Your Tubes Tied?
Source: https://www.parents.com/parenting/relationships/postpartum-birth-control/getting-your-tubes-tied-what-you-need-to-know/