What are Your Birth Control Options
Physician Assistant Teresa Tomaszewski discusses birth control and the different types available.
Featuring:
In her free time, she enjoys Alpine and Nordic skiing, hiking and backpacking, cooking, gardening, and adventuring with her partner and their Great Pyrenees.
Teresa Tomaszewski, PA-C
Teresa Tomaszewski, PA-C is originally from Michigan, but has been living in the Northwest since 2011. She graduated from Heritage University with an emphasis on practicing in rural communities. She enjoys providing care to all ages, especially Preventive Care, Pediatrics, and Women’s Health.In her free time, she enjoys Alpine and Nordic skiing, hiking and backpacking, cooking, gardening, and adventuring with her partner and their Great Pyrenees.
Transcription:
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Between me and what I’ve heard from my girlfriends; I think we’ve tried all of the birth control options out there. With so many different kinds, it can be difficult to find the right one that works for your lifestyle and your body. Joining us, to talk about birth control options, is Teresa Tomaszewski, a Physician Assistant at Pullman Family Medicine. So, Teresa, tell us why birth control is of course so important.
Teresa Tomaszewski, PA-C (Guest): Well Caitlin, birth control is important because it is to prevent unintended pregnancies and in some cases such as the barrier method that are condoms, can reduce the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.
Host: Now when we are talking about birth control, what are the main types? It feels like there are so many out there now.
Teresa: The main types of birth control include the barrier method such as a male or female condom, short-acting hormonal methods such as the intramuscular injection, the progestin only oral contraceptive pill, a combination oral contraceptive pill which includes a combination of estrogen and progestin, a patch and a vaginal ring, longer acting methods of birth control go from three to ten years in duration. We have an implantable rod and an intrauterine devices. So, there are a couple of different kinds of intrauterine devices. One is called the copper IUD and that has no hormones and can last for up to ten years. And the Kyleena or Skyla and Mirena are low dose progestin and they last from three to six years.
There are also permanent methods for birth control or contraception including a vasectomy for men or a tubal ligation or a hysterectomy for women.
Host: Now looking at all these types, what are some of the pros and cons of each of these options?
Teresa: So, with the barrier method, or the condom, a pro is that you don’t have to take a daily pill, you don’t have to have an office procedure to insert it and it can prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Cons would be that you have to be able to apply the condom before sexual intercourse for it to be effective. And then the short acting hormonal methods pros are that they are short acting so if your plans change and you want to try to conceive; you can stop the short acting hormonal method and return to fertility relatively quickly. Cons are that depending on how often you want to take a pill or a patch or the ring, the frequency might be cumbersome for some people. The longer acting methods, a pro is that it is long acting so, you don’t have to take a pill every day, you don’t have to think about replacing the patch or going in for an intramuscular injection. A con is that it does require a short office procedure to insert the device and being that it is long acting, if your plans for fertility or trying to conceive change; you would have to have the device removed. A pro with the permanent methods such as the vasectomy or tubal ligation is that it’s permanent. You don’t have to think about it. That is your permanent birth control. A con is that it does require a procedure and this procedure is irreversible.
Host: Now with all of these choices we can make, how can someone determine what birth control is the best option for them?
Teresa: Well there are lots of questions that we can ask. Coming in for an office visit and talking with your healthcare provider to go through all the questions that are important to them and to consider what method have you been thinking about, how often would you be wanting to take the birth control or the contraception, how effective does the method need to be at preventing pregnancy, does it have additional benefits such as on menstrual bleeding or cramping? Are there non-contraceptive benefits that the person is looking for? Does the person need a private method? Are they trying to conceal that they are on birth control or contraception and what effect does this method have on their future fertility?
Host: Great. Teresa, is there any other important information people should know about birth control?
Teresa: Absolutely Caitlin. It’s important for the person to know that the method that they are on today or tomorrow does not have to be the same method that they are on the rest of their lives. The methods can change just along with their lifestyles to align with their goals and plans. And as I kind of touched on earlier, there are non-contraceptive benefits. So, depending on the method, you could potentially have a lighter period or no period at all, you could have reduced menstrual cramping, you can have decreased acne and even reduction in the risk of some reproductive cancers. And so, when trying to determine which oral contraceptive or contraceptive for birth control method is best for you, having that discussion with your healthcare provider as well as talking about screening for sexually transmitted infections and your overall health and wellness and this can be done every year during your annual wellness for both men and women.
Host: Well we so appreciate your time and your work in this field Teresa. Thank you for joining us today. and thanks for breaking down those options for us. That was Teresa Tomaszewski, a Physician Assistant at Pullman Family Medicine. Find out more about Pullman Regional as well as more episodes like this at www.pullmanregional.org. This has been the Health Podcast from Pullman Regional. I’m your host. Caitlin Whyte. Thank you for listening.
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Between me and what I’ve heard from my girlfriends; I think we’ve tried all of the birth control options out there. With so many different kinds, it can be difficult to find the right one that works for your lifestyle and your body. Joining us, to talk about birth control options, is Teresa Tomaszewski, a Physician Assistant at Pullman Family Medicine. So, Teresa, tell us why birth control is of course so important.
Teresa Tomaszewski, PA-C (Guest): Well Caitlin, birth control is important because it is to prevent unintended pregnancies and in some cases such as the barrier method that are condoms, can reduce the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.
Host: Now when we are talking about birth control, what are the main types? It feels like there are so many out there now.
Teresa: The main types of birth control include the barrier method such as a male or female condom, short-acting hormonal methods such as the intramuscular injection, the progestin only oral contraceptive pill, a combination oral contraceptive pill which includes a combination of estrogen and progestin, a patch and a vaginal ring, longer acting methods of birth control go from three to ten years in duration. We have an implantable rod and an intrauterine devices. So, there are a couple of different kinds of intrauterine devices. One is called the copper IUD and that has no hormones and can last for up to ten years. And the Kyleena or Skyla and Mirena are low dose progestin and they last from three to six years.
There are also permanent methods for birth control or contraception including a vasectomy for men or a tubal ligation or a hysterectomy for women.
Host: Now looking at all these types, what are some of the pros and cons of each of these options?
Teresa: So, with the barrier method, or the condom, a pro is that you don’t have to take a daily pill, you don’t have to have an office procedure to insert it and it can prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Cons would be that you have to be able to apply the condom before sexual intercourse for it to be effective. And then the short acting hormonal methods pros are that they are short acting so if your plans change and you want to try to conceive; you can stop the short acting hormonal method and return to fertility relatively quickly. Cons are that depending on how often you want to take a pill or a patch or the ring, the frequency might be cumbersome for some people. The longer acting methods, a pro is that it is long acting so, you don’t have to take a pill every day, you don’t have to think about replacing the patch or going in for an intramuscular injection. A con is that it does require a short office procedure to insert the device and being that it is long acting, if your plans for fertility or trying to conceive change; you would have to have the device removed. A pro with the permanent methods such as the vasectomy or tubal ligation is that it’s permanent. You don’t have to think about it. That is your permanent birth control. A con is that it does require a procedure and this procedure is irreversible.
Host: Now with all of these choices we can make, how can someone determine what birth control is the best option for them?
Teresa: Well there are lots of questions that we can ask. Coming in for an office visit and talking with your healthcare provider to go through all the questions that are important to them and to consider what method have you been thinking about, how often would you be wanting to take the birth control or the contraception, how effective does the method need to be at preventing pregnancy, does it have additional benefits such as on menstrual bleeding or cramping? Are there non-contraceptive benefits that the person is looking for? Does the person need a private method? Are they trying to conceal that they are on birth control or contraception and what effect does this method have on their future fertility?
Host: Great. Teresa, is there any other important information people should know about birth control?
Teresa: Absolutely Caitlin. It’s important for the person to know that the method that they are on today or tomorrow does not have to be the same method that they are on the rest of their lives. The methods can change just along with their lifestyles to align with their goals and plans. And as I kind of touched on earlier, there are non-contraceptive benefits. So, depending on the method, you could potentially have a lighter period or no period at all, you could have reduced menstrual cramping, you can have decreased acne and even reduction in the risk of some reproductive cancers. And so, when trying to determine which oral contraceptive or contraceptive for birth control method is best for you, having that discussion with your healthcare provider as well as talking about screening for sexually transmitted infections and your overall health and wellness and this can be done every year during your annual wellness for both men and women.
Host: Well we so appreciate your time and your work in this field Teresa. Thank you for joining us today. and thanks for breaking down those options for us. That was Teresa Tomaszewski, a Physician Assistant at Pullman Family Medicine. Find out more about Pullman Regional as well as more episodes like this at www.pullmanregional.org. This has been the Health Podcast from Pullman Regional. I’m your host. Caitlin Whyte. Thank you for listening.