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Gyn recommends backup with IUD?



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 2nd 06, 07:18 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
agent99
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Posts: 5
Default Gyn recommends backup with IUD?

Well, my first IUD lasted till 2 weeks after my first post-partum AF -
five months after I had it put in. It wandered out of position, and I
was experiencing signs of infection. We've moved, so I went to a
different ob/gyn than the one who put the IUD in. The new one tells me
that the strings were cut way too short, and that my old ob/gyn should
have been checking the position of the IUD with ultrasound every month,
then two months, then 3, then 6 . . . etc, in the first year.

I was pleased that my new ob/gyn was so thorough and takes such
precautions. She told me it's the preferred form of birth control of
her patients, and she's never had a complaint. So, when my next AF
came, I went in to get a new IUD put in. After she put it in - quickly
and painlessly - we were talking and she asked if I was still
breastfeeding. I said yes, my toddler. She made a face, as if to say,
"wow, that's a long time to be breastfeeding," and then said that by
now I was likely ovulating. I said could be, but that my cycles
continue to be very inconsistent. As she was ushering me out the door,
she said, "the breastfeeding isn't working as a contraceptive now. I
want you to use alternate protection *as if you didn't have an IUD in*
for the next SIX MONTHS, till we know for sure that it's settled in
properly." I was in a hurry, had to pick up my eldest from school, and
sort of said, "okay, thanks, by, see you in a month."

Six months? If I have to use condoms for the next six months, why did I
get this thing put in?!?

My old ob/gyn told me the IUD was effective from the moment it's put
in, and everything I've read corroborates that. I'm just totally
confused. I'll ask her to clear this up, but I just wanted to check in
here and ask if anyone else has heard advice like this after getting an
IUD put in?

TIA,
99

  #2  
Old October 3rd 06, 01:56 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
Jess
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Posts: 117
Default Gyn recommends backup with IUD?


"agent99" wrote in message
ups.com...
My old ob/gyn told me the IUD was effective from the moment it's put
in, and everything I've read corroborates that. I'm just totally
confused. I'll ask her to clear this up, but I just wanted to check in
here and ask if anyone else has heard advice like this after getting an
IUD put in?


Nope. I was told it was effective that day, see you in a month and call me
if you have any problems.

Of course, he drilled me in what to look for, but still.

Jess


  #3  
Old October 3rd 06, 03:59 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
Notchalk
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Posts: 116
Default Gyn recommends backup with IUD?

On 2006-10-03 02:18:17 +0800, "agent99" said:


Six months? If I have to use condoms for the next six months, why did I
get this thing put in?!?

My old ob/gyn told me the IUD was effective from the moment it's put
in, and everything I've read corroborates that. I'm just totally
confused. I'll ask her to clear this up, but I just wanted to check in
here and ask if anyone else has heard advice like this after getting an
IUD put in?

TIA,
99


Maybe it was because your other one wasn't in the right spot or
something? As in, she's making sure this stays put before trusting it?
I don't know much about those - I'd rather use condoms!

Jo
--
Woman, Wife, Mother, Midwife

  #4  
Old October 3rd 06, 05:20 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
agent99
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Posts: 5
Default Gyn recommends backup with IUD?


Notchalk wrote:
On 2006-10-03 02:18:17 +0800, "agent99" said:


Six months? If I have to use condoms for the next six months, why did I
get this thing put in?!?

My old ob/gyn told me the IUD was effective from the moment it's put
in, and everything I've read corroborates that. I'm just totally
confused. I'll ask her to clear this up, but I just wanted to check in
here and ask if anyone else has heard advice like this after getting an
IUD put in?

TIA,
99


Maybe it was because your other one wasn't in the right spot or
something? As in, she's making sure this stays put before trusting it?
I don't know much about those - I'd rather use condoms!

Jo


Well, I just called their office, and spoke with her assistant. She
says that because the IUD is most likely to wander out of place in the
first six months of placement, they recommend that you use a condom
during that time. Because if it's out of place, you can get pregnant.
But it seems as though this is their standard approach, not something
special for me because my first one did wander. So I said, well if I
have to keep using condoms for the next six months anyway, why did I
just shell out for the stupid IUD? Her response was that I should
probably just use condoms when I'm likely to be ovulating. Except, of
course, that I'm still nursing and my cycles are not consistent, and I
have no idea when or even if I'm ovulating.

I left it that I would discuss it further with the doctor when I go in
for my one-month check. Of course, when I tell her that my old ob/gyn
and everything I've ever read tells me the IUD is effective from the
minute it's put in, she'll point out that my last one left its position
after my first post-partum period. But I didn't get pregnant. And the
IUD moving was caused not by unprotected intercourse, but by the
period.

I'm sensitive to latex and *I* can't stand using condoms. DH puts up
with them, but obviously they're not his favorite either. They totally
kill our sex life. If she really doesn't trust the IUD for the next six
months, I think I'm going to have to totally reassess our birth control
method. DH plans to get a vasectomy someday, not that far away, but
we're still pretty young and I'm hesitant to see him make such a
drastic move.

I guess in the final analysis it's up to us whether we take the risk or
not.

Thanks for the feedback,
99

  #5  
Old October 3rd 06, 09:51 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
Sarah Vaughan
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Posts: 443
Default Gyn recommends backup with IUD?

agent99 wrote:
[...]
Well, I just called their office, and spoke with her assistant. She
says that because the IUD is most likely to wander out of place in the
first six months of placement, they recommend that you use a condom
during that time.

[...]

Never heard this advice before in my life, and I have a diploma in
family planning. I've just checked out a couple of good sources
("Contraception - Your Questions Answered" by Guillebaud, which is
pretty much the contraceptive bible for family planning doctors, and the
most recent review of IUCDs in the Journal of Family Planning and
Reproductive Medicine) and couldn't find any mention of this advice.
Sounds like waaaaay overkill.

Ask her what, specifically, the figures are. The risk of an IUCD
wandering out of place at _any_ time is very low, so, although I don't
have actual figures for the first six months compared with any other
time, I wouldn't have thought the figures could be that high. I did
manage to find out that the overall failure rate in the first year is
less than 1%, according to the WHO 2000 review. So even if the entire
failure rate of the first year was happening in the first six months,
that would still be a very low overall failure rate. Of course, risks
are going to vary from one type to another, but it still sounds like a
very low risk to me. I wouldn't bother with condoms, at that risk
level, unless I really felt pregnancy would be an out-and-out disaster
(in which case, I would be using them anyway regardless of how long the
IUCD had been in, because there is no such thing as a foolproof method
of contraception). HTH.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell
  #6  
Old October 3rd 06, 10:38 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
agent99
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default Gyn recommends backup with IUD?


Sarah Vaughan wrote:
agent99 wrote:
[...]
Well, I just called their office, and spoke with her assistant. She
says that because the IUD is most likely to wander out of place in the
first six months of placement, they recommend that you use a condom
during that time.

[...]

Never heard this advice before in my life, and I have a diploma in
family planning. snip


Sounds like waaaaay overkill.

Ask her what, specifically, the figures are. The risk of an IUCD
wandering out of place at _any_ time is very low, so, although I don't
have actual figures for the first six months compared with any other
time, I wouldn't have thought the figures could be that high.


snip
I wouldn't bother with condoms, at that risk
level, unless I really felt pregnancy would be an out-and-out disaster
(in which case, I would be using them anyway regardless of how long the
IUCD had been in, because there is no such thing as a foolproof method
of contraception). HTH.


All the best,

Sarah


Thanks! Yes, I think it's being far too cautious. She also has me on
antibiotics for three days now, which apparently she does with all
patients to reduce the risk of infection. She seems extremely,
extremely cautious - I'd never heard of an ob/gyn doing monthly
ultrasounds for the first six months to make sure the thing was still
in position!! My old ob/gyn just told me to check the strings once a
month.

Of course, my first IUD didn't come out on its own - I was having a
heavy feeling in my abdomen, a lot of backache and inner thigh ache,
strange bloody discharge, and fever and chills. When I checked for the
strings, they were gone. So, I found a new ob/gyn here, who came highly
recommended by a friend. She checked with the ultrasound, said the IUD
was "way out of place" (I now think I should have asked specifically
where), and removed it. She told me I should never check the strings
myself, because I could inadvertently push them further up (not easy
for me - I'm a self cervix checker, from fertility tracking to dilation
to . . . ). And she gave me antibiotics then, to counter the
infection.

Maybe she's thinking I'm more at risk for another infection? But then,
condoms or not wouldn't make a difference . . . and I'd think I would
be *less* likely to get pregnant with a uterine infection, not more so.

Grrr. I got the IUD so I could *stop* worrying about birth control.
Hah.

thanks again,
99

 




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