What are my options?
I had a baby last November (so I’m 10 months postpartum), and my husband and I are one and done. I’m only 28 and I live in a religious country, so no one is going to give me a ligation. My husband is scared of getting a vasectomy and I respect that so I’m not going to push it.
We use condoms now, and I’m not really into them. Of course if I have no other choice, I’ll stick with them, they just don’t really feel great unless I use half a tube of lube (water-based, of course). So I’m looking into other methods. A few things to consider:
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I’m not interested in getting an IUD. They’re expensive here and after having several cervical checks throughout the late stage of my pregnancy and during my labor I’m just really not interested in having my doctor’s hands all the way up there unless it’s 110% medically necessary. Maybe in a year or two I’ll get over it but for now I’m really not interested in an IUD yet.
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As much as possible I’d like to avoid anything hormonal. I’ve had history of getting really, really dry on the COC and having anger issues with the progestin only pill. I’m also still breastfeeding and I make just enough for the baby so I don’t want to risk messing with my supply.
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I haven’t had a postpartum period and I have no idea if I’m ovulating. I also have PCOS. Fertility awareness is probably not going to work in this case. Some people have said that PCOS and breastfeeding would really reduce my fertility but this baby was an oops PCOS baby, so I’m obviously not listening to that bad advice.
Are condoms my only option here? Or is there another form of birth control that might work?
Posted Sep 25, 2019, 2:39 AM UTC
If you don't want an IUD and absolutely adamant about non hormonal, then your best bet is barriers (condoms, female condoms, cervical barriers), sponge + spermicide, spermicide, withdrawal, and FAM, or a mix-and-match of these. But just like you mentioned, considering you have PCOS and are postpartum, FAM can be a bit tricky. While some say it may work, it will basically show you a bunch of red days, since it only gives you "green" days on the first 1-3 days of your period, and after ovulation was confirmed. Breastfeeding can reduce your chances of getting pregnant, but you need to be doing that constantly (once every 4 hours if I remember correctly?), and it's still not foolproof or 100% good.
Last option would be a hormonal implant. It's progestin only so it doesn't mess with your milk supply, and it's a different progestin than the POP (assuming you tried norethindrone) so you might have a different experience.