IUD

The IUD is among the most effective methods out there. In fact, all of the IUDs are over 99% effective at preventing pregnancy.

In other words:

Fewer than 1 out of 100 people will get pregnant during the first year of using an IUD.

If you have dysmenorrhea (the medical term for extremely painful periods), hormonal birth control can make a big difference. There are several hormonal methods that can help regulate your periods, decrease bleeding, or even make your periods go away completely. Options like the combination pill or the hormonal IUD are proven to reduce the level of pain and heaviness of your bleeding, basically making it easier for you to live your life when you have your period.

Not every method of birth control is safe to use right after giving birth, but many of them are. Breastfeeding consistently can be its own form of birth control, or there are a bunch of other methods you can use, including super-effective methods like the IUD and the implant that you can start right away.

It depends on the method. Some forms of birth control including the pill, patch, ring, shot, and implant are not effective immediately after you start using them, but most IUDs are (and so are methods that you only use when you have sex, like a condom). To be sure, check with a health care provider before having sex without another method of birth control.

The hormonal IUDs (Mirena, Liletta, Kyleena, and Skyla) dramatically reduce bleeding during your period, protecting you from anemia. The IUD can also reduce menstrual symptoms for people who have fibroids. And, if you’re someone who can’t use estrogen, both the hormonal IUD and the non-hormonal, copper IUD are good options for preventing pregnancy.

Yes. Levonorgestrel is the hormone used in the hormonal IUDs—Mirena, Liletta, Kyleena, and Skyla—and it’s used in other birth control methods too. It’s a synthetic version of progesterone, a hormone made by the body. It’s been studied and found to be very safe. If you decide to get your IUD removed, the hormones will be out of your body within a day or two.

Getting an IUD removed may be a bit uncomfortable, but generally the procedure is easier, quicker, and less painful than getting the IUD inserted.

Everybody responds to birth control differently. If you feel like your hormonal birth control is changing your mood, it’s time to talk to your health care provider. It might be a matter of switching methods or deciding whether to avoid hormonal birth control altogether, or you may choose to wait it out since some negative side effects go away with time.

The side effects that often come along with starting a new birth control method usually go away after a few months. However, if your periods continue to be heavy or you aren’t happy with the way your birth control changes you periods, you can always talk to a health care provider about making a change.

For less than 1 in 1,000 people having an IUD placed, the IUD can get stuck in or puncture the uterus—also known as perforation. Perforation only happens when the IUD is being put in. Highly skilled providers who have inserted many IUDs are less likely to cause perforations. If you have given birth recently you are more likely to experience perforations because the muscle of the uterus is softer then.

What does it mean if there is a perforation? If it’s recognized immediately, the health care provider will stop the insertion. It takes about a week for the uterus to heal, and then you can have another IUD inserted if you want. However, more than half of perforations may go unrecognized at the time of insertion. Because the IUD has to be correctly placed to work as birth control, that may mean that you don’t have birth control when you think you do. While it’s not required, you can have a follow up visit with a provider to check the IUD 4 to 6 weeks after it’s placed or check the IUD strings in the vagina yourself. If you can feel the strings with your fingers, everything’s probably okay.

If undiagnosed for months, a perforation can make removing the IUD difficult and can sometimes require surgery to remove it. Even in the worst-case scenario of an undiagnosed perforation that requires surgery, it shouldn’t have an impact on your chances of getting pregnant in the future.

As long as you’re careful to avoid accidentally suctioning or pulling your IUD strings when you remove your menstrual cup, it’s fine to use a cup and an IUD together. Research has found that the use of tampons or menstrual cups does not increase the risk of an IUD coming out early. The packaging information for IUDs can be inconsistent, but you can use whatever your usual menstrual product is and not increase your risk of your IUD coming out.

Getting an IUD can be a breeze or a hassle, depending on how easy it is for you to find a health care provider who knows how to insert them, get an appointment, and make sure your insurance will cover the procedure.

The good news? Once you get those ducks in a row, the actual insertion process is usually pretty quick (even if it can be uncomfortable). Experienced providers can insert an IUD in as little as a minute! Read more about the process of getting an IUD.